How much do you earn in the GSA games industry?

What salaries do different professionals in the German-speaking games industry actually get? GamesMarkt inquired about the monthly salaries of different job profiles and experience levels.

We asked 100 games companies from Germany, Switzerland and Austria (GSA) about the average monthly salaries of their employees. To give an overview of the job profiles, we asked for data from the six areas of programming, art, game design, producing or product management, narrative design or game writing and communication. In addition, since seniority plays a major role in pay, we divided each of the fields into three experience levels: junior, regular, and senior. The data was collected anonymously; participants from Switzerland were also asked to convert their salaries into euros according to the current exchange rate. Furthermore, the data does not differentiate between the size of the companies surveyed, again for reasons of anonymity. Thus, data from small indie studios can be found alongside that of large and mid-sized publishers and developers.

Total average salary of the GSA games industry 3,589 euros

In parts, the results of the study show a sobering result. Just under 20 percent of the companies surveyed provided salary data. In most of the occupational areas surveyed, the data is nevertheless suitable for providing an interesting overview, but in the two areas of Communication and Narrative Design, we received so few details that we cannot publish any data from them without endangering the anonymity of the participants. Why only a few submissions were received here becomes clear when you consider how the structure of games communication usually works. Many PR and community management functions are run through external agencies, so studios and publishers often have no insight into their salary structure. The low data density for Narrative Design can be explained by the fact that this function is often filled jointly with others, for example, by a person whose job description falls more to Game Design.

Average salaries in the departments Art Design: 3,246 euros Producing: 4,055 euros Game Design: 3,400 euros Programming: 3,886 euros

Nevertheless, the survey unearths some exciting knowledge, especially about salary ranges not only between departments, but also between experience levels. The biggest spread between the average salaries of juniors and seniors is found in Programming, with a difference of 1,777 euros. However, Producing and Game Design are quite close to this with similar differences. The smallest spread is found in Art Design, where it averages only 1,267 euros between junior and senior. However, this says less about the fairer distribution of salaries than about the generally lower pay of art designers, who receive the lowest average salary across all experience levels and among whom the lowest concrete salary figure in the survey is found. By the way: Producers earn the best average salary across all experience levels.

Highest and lowest average salaryProducing Senior: 4,892 euros Game Design Junior: 2,670 euros

Due to the rather small sample, these figures are of course not representative. We have decided to repeat the survey at regular intervals and thus to constantly expand this evaluation. Nevertheless, the figures show a trend that may not bode well for the games industry in German-speaking countries: salaries are relatively low, especially below senior positions. For comparison, the data of the compensation consultancy Compensation Partners shows an average salary of 5,350 euros per month in the German IT industry in 2022 - almost 1,500 euros more than in the programming sector of this survey. With the increasing competition for the attention of professionals from other fields, it is quite possible that the games industry will have to step up its game to avoid being left behind.