Game Developer Salaries in North America (2026)

Median base salaries for 34 game development roles in North America, shown in USD for comparability. 34 of 34 roles are backed by real survey or report data; the rest are model estimates. Click a role for its full breakdown by experience and region.

Role	Discipline	Median	Experience	Data source
Graphics Engineer	Engineering	$172,500	6–10 years	Industry reportn=132
Game Director	Production	$171,000	16+ years	Community surveyn=5
Engine Engineer	Engineering	$162,000	6–10 years	Industry reportn=505
Studio Head	Production	$160,000	6–10 years	Industry reportn=505
Network Engineer	Engineering	$157,500	6–10 years	Industry reportn=505
Game Programmer / Engineer	Engineering	$150,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=38
Audio Programmer	Audio	$147,840	6–10 years	Industry reportn=32
Technical Designer	Design	$145,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=3
Data Scientist	Business	$140,398	6–10 years	Industry report
Business Development Manager	Business	$140,398	6–10 years	Industry report
Community Manager	Business	$134,000	6–10 years	Industry reportn=41
Marketing Manager	Business	$134,000	6–10 years	Industry reportn=41
Systems Designer	Design	$130,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=3
UI/UX Designer	Design	$125,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=5
Technical Artist	Art	$125,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=13
Concept Artist	Art	$124,000	6–10 years	Industry reportn=54
Lighting Artist	Art	$124,000	6–10 years	Industry reportn=505
Level Designer	Design	$120,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=5
Composer	Audio	$118,800	6–10 years	Industry reportn=32
Animator	Art	$118,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=5
Producer	Production	$112,500	6–10 years	Community surveyn=22
Art Director	Art	$110,313	6–10 years	Industry report
Character Artist	Art	$109,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=5
Game Designer	Design	$107,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=30
Narrative Designer	Design	$106,500	6–10 years	Community surveyn=6
VFX Artist	Art	$104,500	6–10 years	Community surveyn=6
3D Modeler	Art	$104,000	6–10 years	Community surveyn=13
Project Manager	Production	$100,284	6–10 years	Industry report
Sound Designer	Audio	$98,550	6–10 years	Community surveyn=5
Environment Artist	Art	$96,045	6–10 years	Community surveyn=12
Associate Producer	Production	$93,263	6–10 years	Industry report
QA Lead	Production	$78,000	6–10 years	Industry report
Data Analyst	Business	$72,300	6–10 years	Community surveyn=13
QA Tester	Production	$43,263	6–10 years	Community surveyn=4

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Sources used on this page

GamedevSalary.com community survey (2024) — anonymous salary reports submitted by game developers.
GDC State of the Game Industry 2025 — Annual survey by Game Developers Conference / Informa.
8Bit Gamedev Salary Pulse 2026 — Games-industry recruitment agency salary report. Cited with permission.
Glassdoor — Crowdsourced salary estimates.