Report: European game industry salary potential varies by region

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A new report from recruitment agency Values Value and career platform InGame Job, says that European game professionals' salaries is determined by location.

The Big Games Industry Employment Survey 2023 is based on a survey of 1,184 respondents regarding the European games market.

The sample size of surveyors was broken down into two groups labeled the EU region, consisting of 27 countries and the non-EU region. The non-EU collective is made up of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine.

The highest and lowest media salaries by region and level are listed below.

European region median annual pay:

• Highest-paid junior-level profession: Game design - €25,000
• Lowest-paid junior-level profession: Art/design - €20,000
• Highest-paid middle-level profession: Analytics - €37,000
• Lowest-paid middle-level profession: QA - €16,100
• Highest-paid senior-level profession: C-suite/executive - €84,000
• Lowest-paid senior-level profession: Marketing/user acquisition - €46,000

Non-European regional median year pay:

• Highest-paid junior-level profession: Art/design - €12,000
• Lowest-paid junior-level profession: Game design - €7,700
• Highest-paid middle-level profession: Analytics - €29,000
• Lowest-paid middle-level profession: HR/recruiting - €15,000
• Highest-paid senior-level profession: C-suite/executive - €66,000
• Lowest-paid senior-level profession: Sound - €30,000

Values Value and InGame Job's survey also noted the gender pay gap of European professionals.

The report said, "A somber trend is worth highlighting: female respondents tend to indicate lower desired salary levels compared to their male counterparts.

"This pattern reflects the same correlation observed with actual salary levels. As the expertise level increases - the disparity between desired salaries among respondents widens."