I can only speak to the in-studio part but yes, you can live a financially comfortable life. You probably won't be living in mansions and driving supercars but you can do quite well.
Stability, on the other hand, is a whole other story...
To elaborate. Your value is equal to the money you get paid. If your skills and contribution is less than average you'll get a less than average salary. Of you practice and make them better you'll get more. Sky is the limit. At average pay you'll be able to sustain a living and a bit more but for sustaining families. You'd want to keep upgrading your skills.
Geography would be the biggest deciding factor. Across North America you *can make a decent living in a studio, Western Europe *maybe in some countries. UK nope.
If you're in Eastern Europe/Asia/South America etc, I get the impression freelancing would probably be a better choice *if you have the drive to make that work.
Eastern Europe - outsourcing studio - yes, you can live well since the living costs are so low, I imagine as a freelancer you could earn even more if you work directly with clients over the Atlantic.
Eastern Europe - outsourcing studio - yes, you can live well since the living costs are so low
It ain't cheap there either. If you're from a richer country, you should make sure you still earn enough to put some money aside, so you're not a beggar by the time you return to your own home. In addition, you should also think about things like pension and other things that your employer and your host country doesn't take care of (or only takes care of by local standards).
I live comfortably working in a studio, I won't be owning a supercar (or any fancy car) anytime soon though haha. The big pay-off I guess where I'm currently at is that I've never , not even once felt the pressure of the studio closing down, me losing my job etc. The stability is real.
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Stability, on the other hand, is a whole other story...
First year as a salaryman is much easier. Someone else is managing the business, and getting the clients.
We have good info here
http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Game_Industry
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2014/09/05/GAMA14_ACG_SalarySurvey_F.pdf
On average:
Artists with under 3 years XP will make $50k
3-6
Years $55,547 - $71,029
Over 6 years the average is:
$82,230 - $87,576
Plenty of Artists I know making double that without holding a director or Lead title.
Salaries have wide variances based on location, experience, and portfolio.
Seems pretty livable for me.
If you're in Eastern Europe/Asia/South America etc, I get the impression freelancing would probably be a better choice *if you have the drive to make that work.