Hey guys, I need a bit of help...

[Logan Leonhart]

...actually, I need the help of the guys currently developing a game or that had developed games before.

I need answers to these questions:

1. What´s your role?

2. How much do you earn (aprox..)?

3. What kind of benefits do you receive (just a couple of standouts)?

4. In what state and country do you work in?

5. Is there a bias against hiring foreign people?

Just some quick answers would suffice, it would help me greatly. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[zurich]

I have a feeling alot of that is under NDA.

 

[Logan Leonhart]

Really? Ummm...then answers to 2 (just an aprox would suffice, even if it´s not very close to the real numbers), 4 and 5 would be ok, then.

 

[ERP]

1. Technical stuff

Vague answer to 2. -- It depends on what you do, experience level, skill set, who you work for and how lucky you are, in a technical position it can be anything from not very much at all to a lot. In general it's comparable or slightly below other technical careers.
Having said that if your seriously considering getting into games just for the money, do yourself a favor and do something else. It can be a very rewarding job, but it just isn't worth the pain unless you enjoy the work.

3. Personally I never look much past the medical plan and 401K.
Many companies do have excellent health plans, 401K with matching contributions, health club memberships, stock options and purchase plans etc etc. But as with any industry there is no real standard, company A will probably have a completely different package to company B.

4. I've worked in England, Las Vegas NV, and Redmond Wa. In the US the development hotbeds are pretty much Ca, Tx and to a lesser extent Wa. There are developers all over the place though, there just seem to be higher concentrations in those areas.

5. No bias anywhere I've worked, but you have to realise that if you are a foriegner, the company will have to deal with the Visa issues and this is an extra expense that can make you less attractive than native employees.

 

[archie4oz]

1. Varies... Been a programmer (mostly tools and R&D), artist (2D( backround, sprite), 3D(modelling, animating, texture work)), worked on sound a little(mostly just codec, and signal processing), done a little QA (invariably every developer has to some QA), and localization (interesting, but hated having to do it).

2. Depends on a lot on the company, where you work (local economy), financial health of the studio, the country, etc... I did pretty well for myself (won't say specifically), but like ERP mentioned; there's far more suitable jobs if you're interested in money. It's largely an occupation of pashion and interest.

3. The typically medical/dental, but even that depends on medical policies of the country you're working in. ERP I think pretty much covered it. Of particular note, I managed to get subsidized company housing, but that was pretty much an old Japanese hang-over that's largely dissapeared.

4. Japan (Tokyo-to), US (CA).

5. Not really, but I worked at a studio across different countries and there were naturally significant differences in corporate culture between the two. I think any attitude towards foreign employees is also largely influenced by local immigration policies (a more diverse national makeup in the US vs. Japan (although in Japan there seemed to be far more females working in game studios than in the US))...

 

[Logan Leonhart]

Thanks for the replies. I was just trying to get information about game development, since I´m planning on being a computer engineer and that´s one of my options when I´m done with it.

 

[A1 Stud Muffin]

1. Playstation 2 Programmer. This means developing in C++ under Visual Studio NET, but for some companies it means developing under CodeWarrior. And for *some* companies, it means developing under VI. Don't work for those companies.

2. AU$35K. Hoping for that to change soon (been there 7 months).

3. Benefits include free gym membership, a snack cupboard (unlimited chips/chocolate bars etc., soft drink), a workplace *away* from the city (so driving to and from work in peak hour isn't a problem)

4. Victoria, Australia

5. Foreign people are more than welcome. The beauty of the game development industry is that skills are universal. It's not like practicing law, where you need to learn a whole new set of rules for each country. If you know how to program in C++ or use RenderWare or DirectX, it's as simple as that.