8 ms·

Game devs in the US are paid shit too. Average is around 90k..i can't imagine it's that much worse in Japan.

BudaDude 4y ago
90k isn't terrible for a creative position. The crunch makes it not worth it though.
ipaddr 4y ago
An entry level game developer (1-3 years of experience) earns an average salary of ¥8,386,388. On the other end, a senior level game developer (8+ years of experience) earns an average salary of ¥14,449,841. Which is 90 to 160 Canadian
- Aeolun 4y ago
  This seems absurdly high. I barely see people making those kinds of salaries in large foreign companies. Anecdotally, my friend earned something like 5M yen and was working 10-12 hour days including Saturday at entry/mid level.
  - ipaddr 4y ago
    https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/game-developer/japan/tokyo#:~:text=An%20entry%20level%20game%20developer,average%20salary%20of%20%C2%A514%2C449%2C841 https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/game-developer/japan....
    - Danieru 4y ago
      That data is pure fantasy.
    - diceduckmonk 4y ago
      I think you've prematurely dropped-the-mic. Linking a URL doesn't legitimize your claim. I've worked extensively with the best salary datasets available. Even then, you shouldn't believe everything you read. Even when the data is good, it's not reality. I fail to believe SalaryExperts are anywhere near experts in this case when there is so many odd points on that page. For starters, it's kind of weird to fix game dev salaries on Tokyo when the Kyoto Triangle is a thing. I have on-the-ground context on Japan because I can see the Nintendo office from my backyard. People who aren't familiar with Japan don't realize that Tokyo city doesn't even exist or at least stopped existing over a century ago. That's just a litmus test as to why you trust the anecdotal evidence of people who actually live and work in Japan over a cherrypicked website from Google search for "game dev salary Japan".
  - dmak 4y ago
    ¥8M is common now and I know plenty of people with salaries going for over ¥10M, but very few go over ¥20M and even less for ¥30M. I would suggest you to re-evaluate your market opportunities if you are an Engineer getting paid ¥5M in Japan.
    - amrocha 4y ago
      Not at Japanese companies, which is nearly all game developers. The high end of the market at Japanese companies for staff level engineers with 8+ years of experience is 12-14M. 4-5M for entry level is not unusual
    - Aeolun 4y ago
      You must be living in a different world. I know exactly zero people with a salary over 20M, other than maybe the CIO, and probably because he migrated from the US and kept whatever compensation they gave him there (plus the expat bonus). My starting salary was 2.1M yen in Japan, and until my current position never breached 5.5M
      - dmak 4y ago
        You might be grossly underpaid depending on your current skillsets and geographic location. What kind of work are you doing now? also, how many years have you been working? If you are in Tokyo and you are Senior, you should be above ¥8M at least. Happy to discuss more over chat or something similar. Let me know if you want to compare notes.
alar44 4y ago
If you think 90k is shit, you should really consider not living in NYC, LA, of SF. 90k in most non metropolis cities is upper middle class.
- cmeacham98 4y ago
  Most people that live in a HCOL city cannot just move to a LCOL city and get paid the same - you think they've never considered that? The point of using the national average is that we can compare it to other careers. If we compare game devs to other software development positions they get paid significantly less on average. The BLS puts software engineers at an average of $109k for 2021 (couldn't find 2022 stats, not sure if they exist yet?)[1]. That means game devs make 20+% less on average compared to their non-game counterparts. 1: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/Computer-and-Information-Technology/Software-developers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/Computer-and-Information-Technology/...
  - lll-o-lll 4y ago
    Well what would you expect? The work is significantly simpler, and the conditions are much better. So… wait. That’s not quite right. Hmmm. Try again. What would you expect? The value to the employer is significantly lower because each developers contribution is… No wait. Tell me again how this capitalism thing works because I get confused?
    - anon7725 4y ago
      Supply impacts wages. More people want to be game devs per open position than want to be non-game devs per open position.
      - lll-o-lll 4y ago
        Right, right. So it’s just supply and demand. So here in Australia where the number of surgeon positions are constrained by a centralised body, supply outstrips demand quite a bit. Let me google the old market at work! Googling… Hmmm… Are you sure this thing is working?

90k isn't terrible for a creative position. The crunch makes it not worth it though.

An entry level game developer (1-3 years of experience) earns an average salary of ¥8,386,388. On the other end, a senior level game developer (8+ years of experience) earns an average salary of ¥14,449,841. Which is 90 to 160 Canadian

Aeolun 4y ago
This seems absurdly high. I barely see people making those kinds of salaries in large foreign companies. Anecdotally, my friend earned something like 5M yen and was working 10-12 hour days including Saturday at entry/mid level.
- ipaddr 4y ago
  https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/game-developer/japan/tokyo#:~:text=An%20entry%20level%20game%20developer,average%20salary%20of%20%C2%A514%2C449%2C841 https://www.salaryexpert.com/salary/job/game-developer/japan....
  - Danieru 4y ago
    That data is pure fantasy.
  - diceduckmonk 4y ago
    I think you've prematurely dropped-the-mic. Linking a URL doesn't legitimize your claim. I've worked extensively with the best salary datasets available. Even then, you shouldn't believe everything you read. Even when the data is good, it's not reality. I fail to believe SalaryExperts are anywhere near experts in this case when there is so many odd points on that page. For starters, it's kind of weird to fix game dev salaries on Tokyo when the Kyoto Triangle is a thing. I have on-the-ground context on Japan because I can see the Nintendo office from my backyard. People who aren't familiar with Japan don't realize that Tokyo city doesn't even exist or at least stopped existing over a century ago. That's just a litmus test as to why you trust the anecdotal evidence of people who actually live and work in Japan over a cherrypicked website from Google search for "game dev salary Japan".
- dmak 4y ago
  ¥8M is common now and I know plenty of people with salaries going for over ¥10M, but very few go over ¥20M and even less for ¥30M. I would suggest you to re-evaluate your market opportunities if you are an Engineer getting paid ¥5M in Japan.
  - amrocha 4y ago
    Not at Japanese companies, which is nearly all game developers. The high end of the market at Japanese companies for staff level engineers with 8+ years of experience is 12-14M. 4-5M for entry level is not unusual
  - Aeolun 4y ago
    You must be living in a different world. I know exactly zero people with a salary over 20M, other than maybe the CIO, and probably because he migrated from the US and kept whatever compensation they gave him there (plus the expat bonus). My starting salary was 2.1M yen in Japan, and until my current position never breached 5.5M
    - dmak 4y ago
      You might be grossly underpaid depending on your current skillsets and geographic location. What kind of work are you doing now? also, how many years have you been working? If you are in Tokyo and you are Senior, you should be above ¥8M at least. Happy to discuss more over chat or something similar. Let me know if you want to compare notes.

alar44 4y ago

If you think 90k is shit, you should really consider not living in NYC, LA, of SF. 90k in most non metropolis cities is upper middle class.

cmeacham98 4y ago
Most people that live in a HCOL city cannot just move to a LCOL city and get paid the same - you think they've never considered that? The point of using the national average is that we can compare it to other careers. If we compare game devs to other software development positions they get paid significantly less on average. The BLS puts software engineers at an average of $109k for 2021 (couldn't find 2022 stats, not sure if they exist yet?)[1]. That means game devs make 20+% less on average compared to their non-game counterparts. 1: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/Computer-and-Information-Technology/Software-developers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/Computer-and-Information-Technology/...
- lll-o-lll 4y ago
  Well what would you expect? The work is significantly simpler, and the conditions are much better. So… wait. That’s not quite right. Hmmm. Try again. What would you expect? The value to the employer is significantly lower because each developers contribution is… No wait. Tell me again how this capitalism thing works because I get confused?
  - anon7725 4y ago
    Supply impacts wages. More people want to be game devs per open position than want to be non-game devs per open position.
    - lll-o-lll 4y ago
      Right, right. So it’s just supply and demand. So here in Australia where the number of surgeon positions are constrained by a centralised body, supply outstrips demand quite a bit. Let me google the old market at work! Googling… Hmmm… Are you sure this thing is working?