Game Programmer / Engineer Salary (2026)
The median game programmer / engineer in the games industry earns $103,789 per year with 6–10 years of experience (global, base salary in USD), with most offers falling between $75k and $137k.
Figures are based on 371+ anonymous community salary reports and public industry surveys, resolved per experience band. Rows marked model estimate have no direct survey data yet — submit your salary to improve them. See the methodology for how numbers are computed.
Salary by experience (global)
| Experience | Low | Median | High | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–2 years | $31,744 | $42,065 | $53,507 | Community datan=88 |
| 3–5 years | $40,737 | $55,639 | $73,070 | Community datan=174 |
| 6–10 years | $74,531 | $103,789 | $136,611 | Community datan=93 |
| 11–15 years | $79,262 | $113,231 | $150,160 | Community datan=8 |
| 16+ years | $79,262 | $118,326 | $150,160 | Community datan=8 |
Salary by region
Median base salary (USD) for the best-covered experience band per region — bands differ where coverage differs. US buying power converts that figure to what it buys locally (World Bank 2023 price levels, see methodology).
| Region | Median | Experience | Data source |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | $150,000 | 6–10 years | Community datan=38 |
| Rest of World | $87,360 | 6–10 years | Community datan=15 |
| Asia Pacific | $68,162 | 6–10 years | Community datan=3 |
| United Kingdom · Western Europe · Nordic Countries | $65,879 | 6–10 years | Community datan=37 |
| Eastern Europe | $65,527 | 6–10 years | Industry reportn=10 |
Open game programmer / engineer jobs
Recent listings from games-industry job boards:
How this compares outside games
Official government wage statistics for the closest occupation across all industries. Not games-specific, never mixed into the data above.
| Occupation (official) | Coverage | Low | Median | High | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | United States (national, all industries) | $82,460 | $135,980 | $214,670 | US Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Software developers and programmers | Canada (national, all industries) | $45,882 | $73,534 | $117,642 | Government of Canada Job Bank Wages 2025 |
| Programmers and software development professionals | United Kingdom (full-time employees, all industries) | $41,563 | $72,043 | $130,203 | UK ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 (provisional) |
Sources used on this page
- Community data — public community salary datasets, individual reports shared with us, and anonymous submissions on this site (2018–2026).
- Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025 (game & graphics developers) — Only respondents with developer type "game or graphics" are included. Data used under the Open Database License (ODbL).