Can anybody give me an idea of what the salary structure (beginning) for a game programmer is like, and how this is compared to other programming jobs?

I''d like to know as well, but if it''s just regular programming, you won''t see my name on the resume.

Game programmers command a little higher salaries if they have skills that are in demand (3-d, collision, shadows, etc) than regular programmers. Graduating from college helps out as always, but if the game companies want your skills they are more willing to overlook that aspect than companies in other industries. College graduate starting out in a reasonable-sized company should expect to make 40-45K per year. A 3d guru with a master''s degree should expect 60K-70K/yr. Of course that also depends alot on the location -in California add 30K to those figures.

For a beginner just starting, no job experience in programming, or many jobs for that matter, I make 22K. Oh yeah and I''m not in college but I''m taking courses via The Games Institue.

Robert Warden
Lasershot Shooting Simulations

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Original post by Anonymous Poster

Of course that also depends alot on the location -in California add 30K to those figures.

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And guess where I live. Too bad the state''ll be in a depression in five years, at the rate we''re going now.

So it looks like a game programmer doesn''t get all that much money. $22000/year is not a lot. Come here bragging about that and you''ll get the biggest puns.

I''m not bragging I''m just saying the only legitimate experience i have is 3 programming classes from high school. That kinda studff doesn''t always matter. What does, is being willing to spend every waking moment thinking programming. Being able to finish a 3 month project in a month and a hal, all because of a new deadline.

And being able to work for less than what you might think that you''re worth.

So get on the internet, find a local job search site and search for ''game programmer''. You might just be surprised what you find.

Robert Warden
Lasershot Shooting Simulations

I make 58K a year AND I have a 7th grade education

My company doesn''t care about that because I know what I''m doing and I work hard.

I busted my ass for about 6-7 years outside of regular bullshit burger flipping jobs programming games and learning everything I could get my hands on..

I''m the only programmer here who doesn''t have a degree(or even a high school diploma)but I''m a top performer and get paid better than some of the ''educated'' people we have working here..

I am SO glad this is such a new science, otherwise it would be as difficult as me trying to be a brain surgeon or something without the degree..we''re all just lucky to live in a time where the average guy can still jump in and contribute something new to the industry..

A BIG thanks to all you guys out there with degrees that still can''t program for shit! You make me feel special


"Like all good things, it starts with a monkey.."

Rofl! Well said monkey-dude. I think if it were me though I would get the equivalency test or something. Sure high school is bs, absolutely, but I''d be embarassed to say I didn''t finish it.

Damn right Monkey man. Almost Same thing for me.

I am just coop student(half-way through my degree) and I make a little more than 40k. I was doing way less than that, but they were impressed enough by my work to give me this nice little raise. And I will have another good raise in 4 months.

Working hard and reading a lot of books really paid off much more than school. All the strong points that my company sees in me was all derived from that "outside of school" effort. I really encourage everybody who wants a good job in programming to do the same. School won`t teach you much.

ah hah hah. good one gorg. School won''t teach you much? I suppose I shared your attitude a few years back before I went to university.

Once I got about 1/2 way through my second year of comp. sci, I realized how pig-headed my attitude was. There are a lot of VERY smart people teaching computer science, and there is a lot to be learned from them. I guarantee you that school teaches you things you would NEVER learn by yourself, no matter how long you programmed for on your own. I wish more people would get an education, judging by some of the code I have to audit and clean up at work (that was written by proud uneducated "programming gurus").

kiev