How have salaries changed? What bonuses and compensations are companies currently offering? What percentage of respondents use AI in their routine tasks? What is the main reason for changing jobs? What do relocation packages consist of? And much more - in the first presentation of survey results.

1. BIG GAMES
INDUSTRY
EMPLOYMENT
SURVEY 2023 Katya Sabirova
Head of Communications
FIRST RESULTS
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE
www.valuesvalue.com

2. INTERNATIONAL
GAMEDEV
CONFERENCE
HOW
DO WE FEEL?

3. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Europe (EU+UK)
Europe (Non-EU)
Asia and Africa
MENA (+Turkey)
North America
South America
SURVEY
AUDIENCE
1600
responses
45.8%
40.8%
6.1%
3.1%
2.8%
1.4%
www.valuesvalue.com

4. THE MOST
PRESENTED COUNTRIES
Poland, Cyprus, Germany, Spain,
Lithuania, Netherlands, France,
Finland, UK
Europe (EU + UK)
Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro
Europe (Non-EU)
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5. GENDER
Male - 60%
Female - 23,1%
Other - 0,6%
No answer - 16,4%
AGE
30-40 y.o. - 40,5%
20-30 y.o. - 35%
40-50 y.o. - 7,5%
< 20 y.o. - 0,8%
> 50 y.o. - 0,5%
No answer - 15,7%
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE
www.valuesvalue.com

6. Bachelor's/Master's degree - 66,7%
Dropped out of university - 10,1%
Only School - 5,6%
PhD degree - 1,7%
No answer - 16%
EDUCATION
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE

7. YEARS
IN THE INDUSTRY
31,4 %
5-10
1-3
3-5
≥10
I prefer not to answer
0
20,7 %
20,4 %
15,2 %
7,7 %
4,6 %
www.valuesvalue.com

8. AUDIENCE
BY PROFESSIONAL LEVEL
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Middle
Senior
Expert/Top
Junior
Trainee
Can't rate my level
www.valuesvalue.com
1.84%
2.6%
13.7%
14.58%
30.88%
36.4%

9. AUDIENCE
BY COMPANY ROLE
0% 10% 20% 30%
Art / Design
Programming / Development
Game Design
Project Management / Production
Top management, C-level, VP
QA / Testing
Marketing / User Acquisition
HR / Recruiting
Sound
Analytics
Business Development / Sales
Other (lawyers / financiers / accounting / office management)
Community / Support
PR / Employer Brand / Media / Blogs
Servers / DevOps
Localization
26.95%
15.35%
14.65%
8.88%
7.74%
5.64%
4.19%
3.87%
3.17%
2.60%
1.97%
1.90%
1.52%
0.82%
0.57%
0.19%

10. EMPLOYMENT
FORMATS
0% 25% 50% 75%
Full-time, company staff
Contractor
Freelance
Temporarily unemployed
Company staff and freelance work
Part-time, company staff
Indie developer in free time
Other (please specify)
Full-time indie developer
74.16%
7.97%
5.43%
4.33%
3.78%
1.65%
1.24%
0.76%
0.69%

11. COOPERATION
FORMATS
Remote
59.7%
Hybrid
21.4%
On-site
11.1%
I prefer not to answer
7.8%
Remote Hybrid On-site
I prefer not to answer
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
Europe (EU+UK)
Europe (No_EU)

12. COMPANY
TYPES
0% 25% 50% 75%
Product company that creates games
Outsourcing company
Product company that works with a publisher
Other
Publisher
Indie team
Near-gaming service company
64.33%
12.44%
5.91%
5.30%
3.85%
3.37%
2.68%

13. GENRES
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Casual
Midcore
Hardcore
Other
I don't develop games
11.03%
13.36%
26.03%
31.51%
18.08%

14. AVERAGE GROSS
ANNUAL SALARY
35K Euro
(≈ 2,900 Euro Monthly)
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE
MEDIAN GROSS
ANNUAL SALARY
30K Euro
(= 2,500 Euro Monthly)

15. INDEED, THE PREVIOUS SLIDE WAS
COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE

16. MEN
MEDIAN GROSS
ANNUAL SALARY
33K Euro
(= 2,750 Euro Monthly)
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE
25,190 Euro
(≈ 2,100 Euro Monthly)
WOMEN
MEDIAN GROSS
ANNUAL SALARY

17. — OKAY. IN GENERAL, WOMEN EARN LESS.
— WHY? GIVE ME MORE DETAILS!
— MEET ME AFTER MY TALK.
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE

18. EUROPE (EU+UK)
MEDIAN GROSS
ANNUAL SALARY
37K Euro
(≈ 3K Euro Monthly)
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE
22,755 Euro
(≈ 1,900 Euro Monthly)
EUROPE (NON-EU)
MEDIAN GROSS
ANNUAL SALARY

19. NO, THE PREVIOUS SLIDE WAS
NOT VERY INFORMATIVE TOO
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE

20. ANNUAL MEDIAN SALARIES
MIDDLE-LEVEL SPECIALISTS
Europe (EU+UK) Europe (Non_EU)
0 10 000 20 000 30 000 40 000
Art / Design
Game Design
Programming / Development
25,800
17,654
28,800
19,200
33,180
25,000
*Euro, Gross

21. ANNUAL MEDIAN SALARIES
SENIOR+-LEVEL SPECIALISTS
Europe (EU+UK) Europe (Non_EU)
0 20 000 40 000 60 000
Art / Design
Game Design
Programming / Development
44,000
31,770
47,098
31,920
60,000
46,632
3.2
*Euro, Gross

22. — SO… PEOPLE IN THE EU AND THE UK EARN
MORE THAN IN OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES?
— YES! (REMARKABLE CONCLUSION…)
— DOES IT MEAN THAT PEOPLE IN THE EU AND
THE UK ARE HAPPIER?
— NO!
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE

23. SATISFACTION
WITH SALARIES
MIDDLE-LEVEL
PROFESSIONALS
On a scale of 0 to 5, how would
you rate whether your current
income is enough?
0 - I eat instant noodles
5 - Enough for everything and
I can make savings
MEDIAN Europe (EU+UK)
MEDIAN Europe (Non_EU)
0 10 000 20 000 30 000 40 000
Art / Design
Game Design
Programming / Development
Project Management / Production
25,800
17,654
28,800
19,200
33,180
25,000
30,000
28,700
3.2
*Euro, Gross
3.0
2.9
3.2
3.1
3.3
2.9
3.3

24. SATISFACTION
WITH SALARIES
SENIOR+ -LEVEL
PROFESSIONALS
On a scale of 0 to 5, how would
you rate whether your current
income is enough?
0 - I eat instant noodles
5 - Enough for everything and
I can make savings
MEDIAN Europe (EU+UK)
MEDIAN Europe (Non_EU)
0 20 000 40 000 60 000
Art / Design
Game Design
Programming / Development
Project Management / Production
44,000
31,770
47,098
31,920
60,000
46,632
60,000
46,500
3.1
*Euro, Gross
3.8
3.7
3.4
4.0
3.8
3.4
4.0

25. SATISFACTION
WITH THE
EMPLOYER AND
SALARIES
MIDDLE-LEVEL
PROFESSIONALS
Would you recommend your
employer on a scale of 0 to 10?
MEDIAN Europe (EU+UK)
MEDIAN Europe (Non_EU)
0 10 000 20 000 30 000 40 000
Analytics
Art / Design
Game Design
25,800
17,654
28,800
19,200
6.9
*Euro, Gross
6.5
6.5
7.2
29,112
36,900
6.8
8.3

26. MEDIAN Europe (EU+UK)
MEDIAN Europe (Non_EU)
0 25 000 50 000 75 000
Analytics
Art / Design
Game Design
Programming / Development
65,311
50,000
44,000
31,770
47,098
31,920
60,000
46,632
6.8
*Euro, Gross
7.8
6.6
7.5
7.4
7.7
SATISFACTION
WITH THE
EMPLOYER AND
SALARIES
SENIOR+-LEVEL
PROFESSIONALS
Would you recommend your
employer on a scale of 0 to 10?
7.1
8.6

27. 2023 2022
0% 20% 40% 60%
It's fine if it makes sense
The company has no practice of working overtime
Bad, but I work overtime
Fine, this is a part of the industry
Bad, I refuse to work overtime
HOW DO WE FEEL
ABOUT OVERTIME?
35.67%
51.4%
22.59%
11.2%
21.35%
20%
10.88%
11.8%
9.50%
5.6%

28. HOW OFTEN
DO WE WORK OVERTIME?
2023 2022
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
1-2 times a month
1-2 times a quarter
Never
1-2 times a year
1-2 times a week
More than 2 times a month
Almost every day, even on weekends
22.84%
17.81%
17.67%
16.29%
14.01%
7.25%
4.14%
14%
15.1%
13%
16.8%
14%
14%
13.1%

29. TOP-10 REASONS
TO CHANGE A JOB 2023
0% 25% 50% 75%
Desire to earn more
Desire to grow
Desire of career development
Desire to work on a more interesting project
I want to move to another location/country
Dissatisfaction with management, uncomfortable processes
I feel undervalued
I'm not satisfied with the social package, bonuses and benefits
There is a toxic atmosphere in the company/team
Desire to change work format (remote/part-time/freelance/etc.)
68.63%
55.44%
51.11%
45.76%
24.72%
21.13%
19.83%
13.65%
13.56%
11.35%

30. Health insurance / Medical Care
Foreign language classes
Corporate events
Relocation support
Sports / Gym
Cool office
Starter Packs
External education
Gifts for birthdays, weddings
THE MOST COMMON
PERKS AND BENEFITS 2023
www.valuesvalue.com

31. Loyalty programs and discount cards for company employees
Corporate smartphone for personal use
Transport pass
Interest-free loans
The opportunity to go to sabbatical
Company apartment
Company car
THE MOST RARE
PERKS AND BENEFITS 2023
www.valuesvalue.com

32. ≈50% HAVE RELOCATED RECENTLY
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE

33. Tickets for me
Tickets for my family members
Housing for two weeks - one month
Relocation agent
Transportation of personal belongings
Financial bonus in the amount of 1-2 salaries
Life and health insurance for me
Accommodation for the period of finding my
own housing
Real estate agent services and other
assistance in finding housing
Life and health insurance for my family
members
THE MOST COMMON
RELOCATION OPTIONS 2023
www.valuesvalue.com

34. – WHY DID THE GAME DESIGNER
HIRE CHAT GPT?
— BECAUSE THEY HEARD IT HAD
THE ULTIMATE "LEVEL" OF
CREATIVITY, MAKING EVERY
GAME IDEA NEVER-ENDING!
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE

35. GAME DESIGNERS
AND AI
Use AI in everyday tasks
Tried and didn’t find it helpful
Never tried and don’t plan to try
42 %
17 %
17 %

36. MORE OFTEN
AI IS USED BY:
www.valuesvalue.com
TOP managers
Community/Support Specialists
Analysts
Producers
Game Designers

37. WHO MOSTLY BELIEVES THAT
AI WILL STEAL OUR JOBS?
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Artists
Localization Specialists
HR/Recruiters
Marketing/UA managers

38. Men still earn more than women
Salary is not the key
Employees’ satisfaction doesn’t correlate with salaries
Working overtime is not the norm anymore
Stability is more important than ever
50% have relocated
AI is getting more popular in everyday work routine
AI is not a threat for most respondents
RESUME
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE

39. INTERNATIONAL
GAMEDEV
CONFERENCE
HOW DO WE
FEEL NOW?

40. THANK YOU!
Ask your questions
INTERNATIONAL GAMEDEV CONFERENCE
Katya Sabirova
Head of Communications
ks@valuesvalue.com