Industry Wage Standards
polycounter lvl 18
Hey, I'm guessing this has been asked before, however, I couldn't find it if it has. I was wondering about the possible wages for game artists though. Up until now I've been basically unquestioningly following what I want to do as a career. I'd heard the wages weren't great, but weren't horrible either, and that was no big deal, cause I'd figured that I could live with a bit low pay so long as I enjoyed what I was doing.
However, this week I went to a provincial skills competition. I was competing in graphics design, however there was also a 3d animation competition(which required a team, and as I know of no one else living around me who does it, or in my schoo, I was out of luck for), so I decided to see if the guy running it had some more information with me and wanted to try to pick his brain a bit. So, that combined with a lot more talk that happened on the trip has me worried. Basically, it sounded like a modeler fresh out of school, which will cost 25 grand(cdn), isn't likely to make much more than 25 grand when starting. Basically, the general consensus was that it was a bad choice of proffesion as the wages would be barely enough to live on, provided I could get a job.
So, I was wondering what some of you who actually work in the industry have to say? I mean, the people I talk to live in Alberta, Canada, and by no means should know all that much about this kind of stuff, our sole game developer being Bioware as far as I know. So, I wanted some more info on this. If I go to school and pay 25 grand plus living expenses and whatnot, am I going to end up getting out of school with a big debt and a tiny wage, if a wage at all. Or will the wages be reasonable.
Thanks for any help you may give. I'm already accepted to my school, and everything's basically set, but suddenly I've been getting plagued with doubts about it.
However, this week I went to a provincial skills competition. I was competing in graphics design, however there was also a 3d animation competition(which required a team, and as I know of no one else living around me who does it, or in my schoo, I was out of luck for), so I decided to see if the guy running it had some more information with me and wanted to try to pick his brain a bit. So, that combined with a lot more talk that happened on the trip has me worried. Basically, it sounded like a modeler fresh out of school, which will cost 25 grand(cdn), isn't likely to make much more than 25 grand when starting. Basically, the general consensus was that it was a bad choice of proffesion as the wages would be barely enough to live on, provided I could get a job.
So, I was wondering what some of you who actually work in the industry have to say? I mean, the people I talk to live in Alberta, Canada, and by no means should know all that much about this kind of stuff, our sole game developer being Bioware as far as I know. So, I wanted some more info on this. If I go to school and pay 25 grand plus living expenses and whatnot, am I going to end up getting out of school with a big debt and a tiny wage, if a wage at all. Or will the wages be reasonable.
Thanks for any help you may give. I'm already accepted to my school, and everything's basically set, but suddenly I've been getting plagued with doubts about it.
Replies
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/article_display.php?category=33
I wish I was being paid as much as the designers with less than 2 years experience. Even if it was in CDN. I"D be able to live like a fat pig.
Anyways, thanks for the input. Deffinatly helpful. Hopefully I can get some mroe, I'd like all the opinions/facts I can get.
[edit]Oh, while I'm here, I've another question. I have a summer job (between high school and going to an AI for game art) as a document designer at a local military research base. My actual job will be to do modeling and animation for prototype stuff for presentation. SO I was wondering how much a job like this would count towards industry experience and whatnot?
Thanks.
I have a summer job (between high school and going to an AI for game art) as a document designer at a local military research base. My actual job will be to do modeling and animation for prototype stuff for presentation. SO I was wondering how much a job like this would count towards industry experience and whatnot?
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I think there are two possible plusses... the quality of the artwork you make while there (if you get portfolio pieces out of it that demonstrate artistic flair/skill), and demonstrating the ability to hold an art job (not nearly as big a plus, but some HR's think that's a better mark on your resume than just being straight out of school with no employment experience).
Another plus could be to give you more time to develop your portfolio, if you go ahead and work on your own side projects for a year or so, that are more in line with game-style assets.
I hope I'd be able to start with more than CA $32k, since that equates to less than £15k over here in the UK, and I'm pretty sure most junior artists around here get at least £18-22k as a starting salary...
I guess I'll just keep on going then, this being my dream job, I can put up with some not so great pay I suppose.
Though it would be nice to hear from some of you industry vets whether you think it'd be worth it to start now. (Like,in my position, with school fees and all, and wages as they are, and your experience in the industry, is it worth it? I doubt it'd really have much impact, I suppose I'm fairly set on this course now, but I'd still like to hear.
Thanks.
And thanks for the information on that Eric. It's good to hear that it'll have some pluses most likely.
Some of the raises were because I worked my ass off, some because I showed the company I was worth it, some because the squeaky wheel gets oiled, and some because I said I had other offers on the table.
If you have enough drive, you'll get in.
Don't assume that you can't make good money in this industry. There are seasoned vets in the studio Im at making well into 6 figures. However, dont expect to get to that place without a lot of hard work.
Whilst I agree with Eric and Malcolm that the way to get the salary raises is definitely to move around as opposed to staying at the same co, there is also something to be said for getting into a good stock situation. From being at EA for so long I have stock sitting there that will buy me a house someday. Although admittedly probably not one in the bay area ;-)
I wholeheartedly but sadly agree with Malcolms last point. If you move into the big games companies from a film background, you can seem to command a very respectable salary. Which somewhat blows for us industry vets to say the least.
You're best bet is to get as many titles under your belt as possible (tough it out) and be as active in your local 3d community as you can, meaning try and teach (even for free) at local colleges, get contract jobs. p00p went about it the right way in this respect.
Networking is also another great way to find the good paying jobs. The more people you know the more chance you have at snagging up a nice opportunity. polycount is a great place to do that, so is your local IGDA chapter (http://www.igda.org/chapters)
Another thing is supplimentary skillsets. If you are a good artist but you can do other things that aid your main skillset than this can be a good negotiating chip to bring to the table. Technical writting, scripting/programming, concept art, photography, things of this nature.
so:
-networking
-strong portfolio
-strong resume (not just games, teaching is good too)
-supplimentary skillsets
As with anything, skillsets without proof means almost nothing. if you can script then script something and be able to show something for it. Better yet do it for cash and get a real resume entry for it.
You can email me and we can talk about this further if you like
-R
And thanks for all of the good advice and information on that matter. I hadn't realized that going into film first helps get better wages or any of that stuff. Deffinatly a lot to think on.
And I also had not thought about the other skillsets. I'll have to think on trying to improve some of those as well, this has really given me a lot to think on and a lot of important information.
Thanks to everyone, this has answered an awful lot for me.
(Btw, PaK, thanks for the offer, I might end up sending some annoying questions to your inbox sometime soon).
...I hope I'd be able to start with more than CA $32k, since that equates to less than £15k over here in the UK, and I'm pretty sure most junior artists around here get at least £18-22k as a starting salary...
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When I was looking into relocation I found it very hard to compare salaries between countries because of the difference in tax scales, cost of living and such. Often a direct tranlation of a salary figure to another currency doesn't make sense at all. I don't know if the Canbadian $ jumps in valua as the US $ but this can cause pretty big tranlation differences.
I mean the cost of living varies in each US state right? so does the same logic apply to each Canadian state?
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