Games Industry has Average Salary of $79,000

[neiroatopelcc]

[citation][nom]njalterio[/nom]They may be making $79K a year, but most of those jobs are in the Silicon Valley, where home prices are sky high. Everything is more expensive.
Are you serious? Devry is on par with a community college. Devry is not even accredited for B.S. degrees in engineering, only the two year version (which is far less useful) in engineering technology.If you want to be a game developer, get a B.S. in Computer Science from a real university.[/citation]
Why bother with all that studying ? Honestly, only a single of the programmer friends I have has an university degree. And he ended up programming java games for phones .. do you really want to study that long for THAT? Another one of my friends took the long version of the education I did (a generic IT one) and is programming for a company that does real software (not games, which ironically means more legit customers).

 

[erloas]

Devry's Engineering Technology is a full BS (4 year degree). Granted its not exactly the same as a normal engineering degree, but it is not an associates degree (which is 2 years, they do have some of those courses though). Everyone that I have talked to since I graduated is making pretty good money, and in fact most of them work right along side people with engineering degrees from other schools. Maybe not quite the $79k average seen here, but generally close to that then the 39k of the QA people.

That said, the game design courses weren't added until a few years after I left so I have no idea how well it is going over or how good the classes are.

 

[tenor77]

Programming and going to school is like an artist going to art school. Yeah it helps, but it is only the beginning of knowledge, not the end. They can set you on the path, but there are no finitive answers that can truely be provided.

When it comes down getting the job, most of the time it's your portfolio that matters.

 

[njalterio]

[citation][nom]tenor77[/nom]Programming and going to school is like an artist going to art school. Yeah it helps, but it is only the beginning of knowledge, not the end. They can set you on the path, but there are no finitive answers that can truely be provided.When it comes down getting the job, most of the time it's your portfolio that matters.[/citation]

Eh.....I don't think that metaphor is entirely accurate. Programming is a skill. Having a degree that proves you are capable of programming is much more definitive to a business. Right of college, it's a lot easier to get the job if you have the degree. It takes time to build that portfolio.

[citation][nom]erloas[/nom]Devry's Engineering Technology is a full BS (4 year degree). Granted its not exactly the same as a normal engineering degree, but it is not an associates degree (which is 2 years, they do have some of those courses though). Everyone that I have talked to since I graduated is making pretty good money, and in fact most of them work right along side people with engineering degrees from other schools. Maybe not quite the $79k average seen here, but generally close to that then the 39k of the QA people.That said, the game design courses weren't added until a few years after I left so I have no idea how well it is going over or how good the classes are.[/citation]

I don't think there is anything wrong with getting an engineering technology degree per se, but if you want to be a software developer, I don't think an engineering technology degree cuts it.

[citation][nom]neiroatopelcc[/nom]Why bother with all that studying ? Honestly, only a single of the programmer friends I have has an university degree. And he ended up programming java games for phones .. do you really want to study that long for THAT? Another one of my friends took the long version of the education I did (a generic IT one) and is programming for a company that does real software (not games, which ironically means more legit customers).[/citation]

Assuming what you said is even accurate; while your friend may have ended up with a bottom of the barrel job, that is hardly the consistent result for the vast majority of the programming industry. A B.S. in CS is definitely favored over degrees in IT or Engineering Technology when it comes to software development, its all about the course work!

 

[tayb]

[citation][nom]njalterio[/nom]They may be making $79K a year, but most of those jobs are in the Silicon Valley, where home prices are sky high. Everything is more expensive.Are you serious? Devry is on par with a community college. Devry is not even accredited for B.S. degrees in engineering, only the two year version (which is far less useful) in engineering technology.If you want to be a game developer, get a B.S. in Computer Science from a real university.[/citation]

Silicon Valley is not the only place for game development. Seattle and Austin, Texas are also major hubs and Austin is actually doing quite well at the time being.

I know exactly what Devry is and that is why I suggested it. He doesn't want to be a programmer he wants to be a game designer. Game design is not a four year degree it really isn't even something you NEED a degree for if you play enough games, read enough books, and know what makes a game enjoyable. There is no point in getting a degree in computer science to be a game designer. You get a degree in computer science to be a programmer.

 

[tayb]

[citation][nom]neiroatopelcc[/nom]Why bother with all that studying ? Honestly, only a single of the programmer friends I have has an university degree. And he ended up programming java games for phones .. do you really want to study that long for THAT? Another one of my friends took the long version of the education I did (a generic IT one) and is programming for a company that does real software (not games, which ironically means more legit customers).[/citation]

That couldn't be farther from the truth. I really wish someone good luck competing for a job against someone with a four year degree in computer science. Most companies just throw the resume out if you don't have enough education. Certainly there is not more uneducated programmers perusing the industry than there are educated ones, not even close.

 

[njalterio]

[citation][nom]tayb[/nom]Silicon Valley is not the only place for game development. Seattle and Austin, Texas are also major hubs and Austin is actually doing quite well at the time being. I know exactly what Devry is and that is why I suggested it. He doesn't want to be a programmer he wants to be a game designer. Game design is not a four year degree it really isn't even something you NEED a degree for if you play enough games, read enough books, and know what makes a game enjoyable. There is no point in getting a degree in computer science to be a game designer. You get a degree in computer science to be a programmer.[/citation]

But don't you need programmers to develop a complete game? (the real titles like Mass Effect, StarCraft, Crysis, etc.)

 

[tenor77]

Eh.....I don't think that metaphor is entirely accurate. Programming is a skill. Having a degree that proves you are capable of programming is much more definitive to a business. Right of college, it's a lot easier to get the job if you have the degree. It takes time to build that portfolio.

No it's not perfect but if you're being hired by a programmer and not HR it's experience and what you can do that matters. In that respect, an artist looking to get hired on as a graphic designer, the person isn't going to care if they went to art school, they're going to care about their work.
Same thing with a programmer. It's about experience and what you can do, not what your diploma says (or if you even have one). Programming is a skill, but there's more to it. I compare a good OO program to a good novel and I stick by that analogy.

 

[cknobman]

Any computer programming pays good money not just game development. I live in Texas and work as a Microsoft .Net programmer and make a salary of 85,000 per year.

Even though there is a recession going on there are alot of companies needing software and far too few people who can do it.

 

[blackbeastofaaaaagh]

That is not enough pay for a cutting-edge programmer who works an average of +80 a week. The work load in the gaming industry is very brutal indeed.

 

[joeman42]

It's a great salary if you want a career that only lasts 18 months (and that's only if your game is a hit). As for the schooling, in the dozens of work sites and hundreds of IT people I have known, less than a handful of computer coders, analysts and admins have a CompSci degree like me.

 

[Guest]

Where do they get these numbers?
I guess we're not doing well with our sub $20K budget...