How Much I Get Paid as a Game Programmer

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  • Опубліковано 30 лип 2023
  • I've been working professionally as a video game programmer for about a decade now, and think it can be helpful when people are transparent about the money they make. I go into how much money I made at different stages of my career writing code, and how it affected my life, both professionally as a developer, and at home with my quality of life. I've chosen to prioritize satisfaction with my home life and with what I create with my time doing work, and how I went from making part time hourly pay to a full time six figure salary. I think there are misconceptions about the game industry, and there were definitely times where money was tight, but my family and I made it through and are living a very comfortable, privileged life, and I feel highly rewarded by the kind of work I do.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 316

  • @batumento2390
    @batumento2390 10 місяців тому +272

    Before, I started developing mobile applications to earn more money, working for 1 hour felt like death to me. Then I tried game development and when I got up from the computer, 5 hours had passed and I never understood it and then I decided that if you do what you love well, you will achieve much greater success and of course that much money :D

    • @renashamid1137
      @renashamid1137 10 місяців тому +4

      what got u into game dev, how much do u make at it. what do u enjoy about it, how did u get the job

    • @batumento2390
      @batumento2390 10 місяців тому

      @@renashamid1137 I had a dream of game development since my childhood, but I never wanted to enter because my priority was money, then I realized that the game industry was on the trend and that the industry would grow with new technology and I started. I had to do an internship to graduate from school, a lot of software companies offered me an internship, but I was stubborn that I would do an internship in game development and I couldn't find an internship. If I couldn't find an internship after 1 week, I would stay in school and I found an internship in the last 2 days, I was working hard before I found it and I worked in a company for 9 months and now I am doing projects to improve myself. The reason why game development is enjoyable for me is that because I am a gamer, I can have an idea about what mechanics should be in games and sometimes I can make mechanics that are not in games but the kind of mechanics I want, this is very enjoyable for me and I improve my algorithm because I code different mechanics and this process makes me happy.

    • @dripcode2600
      @dripcode2600 9 місяців тому +6

      So true. No matter what you do, do what you love.

    • @FirstLast-gk6lg
      @FirstLast-gk6lg 6 місяців тому +1

      So true, I do web dev and don't truly enjoy it so development is a bit of a struggle for me

  • @shapoor04
    @shapoor04 10 місяців тому +115

    Bro can make educational and good quality content without trying

  • @markel661
    @markel661 8 місяців тому +91

    It's hard for me as a Spaniard to understand how a yearly 140k pay does not reach for a house and a amazing level of life-style, here in Spain we are able to live by our own and even start a mortage for a own house when we reach the 30k-40k point a year.
    The rent cost there must be insane.
    Hope everything ends up well, and that you both end having your goals fulfiled!

    • @Chris_t0
      @Chris_t0 6 місяців тому +3

      140k in a high tax area. 100k. minus rent 35k = 65k. minus basic living = 45k. He's only been on it for short term aswell so whats that 100k after 2 years assuming no furniture, large electronic purchases, holidays etc... GL buying a house

    • @4F6D
      @4F6D 6 місяців тому +1

      @@Chris_t0 Paying 35k for rent just shows how useless the dollar is lol.

    • @dp2120
      @dp2120 6 місяців тому +2

      In 95% of America, you can buy a house on $140,000 a year. This guy must live in an extremely expensive area or have kids.

    • @Rhino1004
      @Rhino1004 5 місяців тому +1

      He mentions at around 3:15 that he does indeed live in California. If you know anything about America, you'd know that California is by far the WORST place you can be, even without factoring in the astronomical rates of rent. The job opportunities in California don't outweigh the neverending money troubles!!

    • @dp2120
      @dp2120 5 місяців тому

      @@Rhino1004 I didn’t hear him say that. I live in seattle and travel to Cali for work so I know how expensive those cities are. I was just pointing out that they’re not the norm and most Americans live in places where they’re fine on that much money.

  • @rivierasperduto7926
    @rivierasperduto7926 10 місяців тому +14

    Prey is one of my favorite games ever. It's so cool you worked for that project. I have been thinking about going into game dev and hearing more about how much you made makes me think it can be worth it but I would try to avoid high COL areas. Thank you for sharing.

  • @asdfssdfghgdfy5940
    @asdfssdfghgdfy5940 10 місяців тому +26

    I think there’s definitely two types of people. Those who would rather work in a job they love for less pay and those who would rather do what earns them more money. Both are completely justified as well and neither is better than the other.
    I'm definitely in the former group though, some of my happiest times were earning 18 dollarydoos an hour on a farm and I'm considering going back to it (to slightly higher wages now lol)

  • @ironswall
    @ironswall Місяць тому +2

    Dude thanks for sharing! Orange County is so expensive, I miss it though. I hate that our industry takes advantages of people's passions and under pays us.

  • @gaminga7853
    @gaminga7853 10 місяців тому +5

    Bro, This is the most insightful video I have ever seen. ❤

  • @thenogster
    @thenogster 10 місяців тому +79

    This is super useful information as an aspiring software/game dev. I'm at this weird crossroads right now. I graduated from a computer science program last year in and unfortunately did not have the foresight to do co-op to gain some experience in the field. I did some traveling for some months after that and decided to give game dev a shot. During a 4-month period of job hunting with no luck, I took some courses online and made a few portfolio pieces in unreal and unity (and a game jam). I had fun and I think I could be good at it, but I wouldn't say I'm excited to create something new every day.
    I'm constantly blown away by the creativity of new indie games coming out and I now realize the amount of work that it takes to make games. I love playing games and dissecting mechanics, coming up with new ideas/implementing them, story, etc., but I think my other passions in life are equally as important to me if not more.
    All that being said. I'm lucky enough that very soon I'm moving to Montreal with a good support system and some connections, and I have to make a choice between putting all my eggs in game development, or doing something else. My questions for you are:
    1. Would you say that a programmers working in the games industry all have a fiery passion to make games?
    2. Do you think that working in the games industry generally leads to less, more, or similar flexibility with travel, working hours, etc than other fields?
    I'm glad you're feeling some economic stability and wish you continued success in the future!

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  10 місяців тому +22

      1) I would say so, everyone I know wouldn't want to be doing anything else. We all still play games, and will chat about what we've been playing over lunch breaks or after work, and I've been to a few friendly fighting game parties/tournaments that were filled with industry people. It's pretty common for everyone to exchange Discord usernames and Xbox/Playstation IDs so they can play together. Just like any job, it can be stressful, but we love the end result.
      2) It varies by company. Both Blind Squirrel and Blizzard had excellent Paid Time Off accrual rates, where I was earning more than 20 days per year. Ready at Dawn and my current job only have 10 days off per year, which is pretty standard but not great. I think a lot of competitive employers offer 15-20 days per year, which adds up really fast.
      Thanks for watching and good luck! If you can land a job in Montreal before you move, your new employer might offer to help cover some moving expenses. You never know!

    • @thenogster
      @thenogster 10 місяців тому +8

      @@SyncMain Thank you for the thoughtful response.

    • @user-qf2xk1fg6e
      @user-qf2xk1fg6e 9 місяців тому +8

      ​@@SyncMain hold on.10 days off per year for vacation? 10 days per year? And it's standard in the US? Really?

    • @ioritenshi
      @ioritenshi 9 місяців тому

      ​@@user-qf2xk1fg6ethats insane... where i live every company has to offer at least 30 days per year

    • @projectrebuilds2549
      @projectrebuilds2549 9 місяців тому +3

      @@SyncMain This maybe true in the short term and when there are two income streams for the household. When a family expands and kids are in the equation, the salary that these game companies are providing is really not enough during these times, and sometimes no matter how passionate you are about your job and the field you're in, life will give you a reality check and there have been many developers that faced the decision to switch to a higher paying job which they're not so passionate about just to support the family. I wish you all the best and hopefully you earn what you deserve doing what you love the most.

  • @derekndosi
    @derekndosi 10 місяців тому +1

    This is awesome Chris. I'm currently upgrading my arsenal of knowledge, I think you have just inspired me to look more into game dev

  • @teacherC4ndy
    @teacherC4ndy 8 місяців тому +1

    Thanks for the video!! Having such a detailed insight on someone who has great experience helps a lot on making a bunch of scary decisions

  • @willlamme1988
    @willlamme1988 9 місяців тому +11

    Enjoyed your content man, you really do just get to the point vs some of the other creators out there who love to dance around the issues. Ever since I was a kid I've had this thing for fixing bugs in apps and games I've encountered and after I had kids I just sorta stopped thinking about it. I'm stuck in the place I am right now for complicated reasons and all of my 4 boys are starting to take interest in the things I love including my dabbling in programming and I'm taking a serious dive back into it as a way to connect with my kids. I think I'd be a hell of a debugger/QA type but even if I don't excel I think it would be amazing to give my sons who want to do it a head start

    • @ExCyberino
      @ExCyberino 9 місяців тому +1

      That's so wholesome. Connecting with yo boys through programming

  • @Mustafa-099
    @Mustafa-099 10 місяців тому

    Dude this video has been very informative!! Thank you for the awesome content!

  • @lgotindev6712
    @lgotindev6712 10 місяців тому +2

    Thank you for your content, you are great!

  • @rontanamobay2154
    @rontanamobay2154 10 місяців тому

    Super great video, packed with information. Cheers!

  • @dominick358
    @dominick358 10 місяців тому +3

    Awesome video bro! As someone who is looking to change careers and also loves video games this information is great. I always though all video game devs struggle and while I love my current career the rewards just aren’t worth it for me anymore. Glad to know I wouldn’t have to face the same kind of situation lol

  • @GameDevJosh
    @GameDevJosh 12 днів тому +2

    Worked at visual concepts as a designer for a few years but recently got laid off. Recently started learning C++ just because it seems more stable to become a programmer and i also enjoyed coding and debugging code in c# when i spent time independently working on unity projects. i know cpp is much more complex but i think i'll have fun with it

  • @atulraghuvanshi6491
    @atulraghuvanshi6491 5 місяців тому +1

    I love yours videos and being an aspiring game dev, you inspire me to become one.
    Thank you for sharing your experience.

  • @felipecruz3061
    @felipecruz3061 10 місяців тому +4

    Hey man good to see another video up. All the best bro

  • @ashharkausar413
    @ashharkausar413 4 місяці тому +2

    Ty for sharing your experience!

  • @nojerome497
    @nojerome497 28 днів тому +2

    I love your passion for game development and how you've stuck with it, but I'd also like to throw in my two cents. I spend all of my professional time developing backend software systems in the medical space. These are things that the majority of people spend 0% of their life thinking about. Despite that, they are absolutely necessary, and drive a hugely important aspect of our lives. The funny thing is that the necessity of my work isn't even what drives me. I LOVE solving these problems. And I don't believe that the solutions I work on are applicable to my professional space exclusively. I've developed generic work engines that would absolutely benefit the server side components of online gaming infrastructures. As programmers, we often solve problems that can be applicable in many applications. If you enjoy solving these problems, you can find great enjoyment in programming regardless of the field that your software applies to.

  • @lilgohan
    @lilgohan 10 місяців тому +3

    Thank you for sharing! Big fan of Prey and of Civ 6!

  • @omnimathic
    @omnimathic 10 місяців тому

    That is amazing. Really amazing. Working on different companies with different projects that is amazing.

  • @joyfulfishman5445
    @joyfulfishman5445 9 місяців тому

    I liked and subscribed the moment I heard you mention charity/leaving a link to a charity in your description, I respect the way you think my man

  • @armoredspaz
    @armoredspaz 9 місяців тому

    thankyou, the insight was enlightening

  • @skynetz22
    @skynetz22 10 місяців тому +7

    Still looking for a job.. Thanks for the videos, been quite useful to me.
    Going for Software Engineer :)

  • @boyxrichard
    @boyxrichard 2 місяці тому +1

    So informative !!!! thank you

  • @KingJuzzi
    @KingJuzzi 10 місяців тому +15

    My dude. You seem like the most friendly guy; I've been lucky enough to work with developers as kind and passionate as you. People who feel excited and privileged to be doing the work that they're doing, and sharing their knowledge and experience with those around them. Thumbs, sub, bells etc. Thanks for the great post.

  • @fierce_foxx4633
    @fierce_foxx4633 10 місяців тому +1

    Thanks for sharing, sounds like an adventurous life !

  • @kklum6998
    @kklum6998 10 місяців тому

    Thank you for sharing. Kudos

  • @faizan5738
    @faizan5738 10 місяців тому +2

    Wishing you a happy and fulfilling life filled with joy, love, and success in all your endeavors.

  • @projectrebuilds2549
    @projectrebuilds2549 9 місяців тому +1

    Respect! You are such a gem of a developer. Please make more videos.

  • @SirSethery
    @SirSethery 9 місяців тому +3

    I’m currently a software engineer still pretty early in my career, and I didn’t pursue video game development because I thought it was less realistic as a career, but over a year into my second software engineering job, I’m realizing it’s not very fulfilling for me. I’ve fooled around in Unity but I feel like it would take too much effort to make a career shift as I don’t have any actual training in game development (just the simple Udemy course or two). And the big thing for me is that I really like making and tuning game mechanics, but I’m not great at coming up with the big ideas.

  • @i_Have2BrainCells
    @i_Have2BrainCells 10 місяців тому +3

    It's been always my dream is to become a game developer like you. And I am already became a big fan of you(you have inspired me a lot), will you make a complete study guide for us? Like what should we learn for betterment (according to your experience), how to prepare for job, and how to just become a better developer

  • @test-rj2vl
    @test-rj2vl 7 місяців тому +4

    Was funny to hear how you can't afford rent with your sky high salaries. Here in eastern europe as junior dev I made 14.4k/year and now as mid level I make 31.2k/year and and still manage to buy and pay everything I need.

  • @danielcortes6449
    @danielcortes6449 10 місяців тому +5

    Its really nice to know you better Chris, I felt attached to your way of advicing people in the begging of their carears like me.
    Also liked that you sound really aware of the problems in the game industry.
    Btw I oppend the link of the microfone but they charge twice the price of the product to send it to Brazil, I'm needing one and I was hoping to help you pay yours as you said but that don't sound as a great deal haha!
    Keep up with the content :)

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  10 місяців тому +2

      Oh yeah don’t worry too much about that, if you can get it cheaper or find something better in any way definitely grab that instead!

  • @willh69
    @willh69 7 місяців тому +1

    I like your temperament SyncMain. Your energy is about what I see in the Tech industry from the guys that are "settled in" i.e. are actually great at what they do, have no desire to be "showy" or stand out in any particular way, and just like to be helpful by contributing their skills to projects and companies that they feel match what their own goals are.
    Can you talk about how your personality changes, or doesn't change over time? Like, starting out are you full of energy enthusiasm etc, and when things start to take a downward turn as they do for basically everyone in any industry - how did you keep from spiraling down like many others do, OR how did you find your way out. Is it temperament, or friend circles, etc etc. or life lessons learned etc.
    Me personally, I think a calmer temperament generally will tend to do better in more difficult and complex industries like programming because the longer term toll of being "wired" year after year like a salesperson might for example, is going to grind someone into a pulp when they run up into problems that make you have to stop and think for a little bit.
    In short I think your personality is more reflective of a segment of Software Engineers out there that is under-represented in UA-cam - and the ones I'll prefer to watch, more specifically.
    Thank you for being you

  • @biskit7
    @biskit7 10 місяців тому +5

    Dude, you have had a great career so far!!!

  • @lem0nification
    @lem0nification 10 місяців тому

    Thanks for the vid man :) Looking forward for some technical content from You :)

  • @-Engineering01-
    @-Engineering01- 10 місяців тому +19

    People are saying that game programmers earn less than non game programmers for years, and that is bullshit.
    Which area of software field do you think earn more than game programmers ? How you came to that conclusion?
    Game programmers, in general, earn more than generalist full stack, front end, backend web monkeys.
    They earn more or on par with embedded software engineers.
    They only earn 20-30% less than cloud, infrastructure, AI and big data engineers.
    Don't choose a field based on just earning potentials, because the tech is so volatile that every field is changing rapidly in time, no one now's which field is gonna be lucrative.
    Choose a field you love, you'll get better at it and you'll earn more. That's it, life is too short.

    • @w500nm
      @w500nm 13 днів тому

      Lol might wanna do some research

  • @user-vx7pl9xr8x
    @user-vx7pl9xr8x 2 місяці тому +1

    thanks for sharing , man

  • @Ali-vz9rs
    @Ali-vz9rs 10 місяців тому

    Thanks for sharing your experience.

  • @scrollingcat
    @scrollingcat 10 місяців тому +3

    So I just watched all your videos and thank you so much man, I was getting really anxious if I was learning the correct way, I just got out of High School(learned python and mysql there) and am beginning to learn to code on my own, I don't know what * should do, but after watching your videos I think I should just learn what I enjoy. Really thanks man, and please share tips and advise for starting programmers.

  • @Dr_Pegger
    @Dr_Pegger 6 місяців тому +1

    Such an awesome genuine channel and video, you are such a cool guy

  • @goat-rh5xg
    @goat-rh5xg 9 місяців тому

    so proud of you man. im also getting into coding and love to game as well so i downloaded the eclipse ide and now looking for a good program to teach me. I also like cyber security too

  • @Sor3a
    @Sor3a 10 місяців тому +2

    please more videos from you I want to know more about your career and give more advices and thank you for sharing

  • @thejmaurelli
    @thejmaurelli 6 місяців тому +1

    Love the candor.

  • @Lothramir
    @Lothramir 10 місяців тому +3

    Im so very thankful that ive found your channel SyncMain :) I may be to old to become a programmer, but ive bought a book and i try my best. It's fun. And i can still do hobby projects and play around with gadgets.
    Ive played 1000+ hours plus on Civ 6, so fun to hear that you where a part of making it. What i would love to listen more to is when you take the first step towards programming with graphics(c++) The first project where you make something move around etc.

    • @kapitcheGHT
      @kapitcheGHT 10 місяців тому +1

      When you have a good foundation in C++, choose a graphic api (vulkan, directx, opengl) because you are beginner you are going to choose opengl. Then learn to render a window with opengl rendering inside and then play around OpenGL’s functions and methods.

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  10 місяців тому +1

      ^ Someone got to it before I did!
      I enjoyed learnopengl.com as a gentle introduction, but once you've stood up your project and played around for a bit, learning more about how graphics cards work, modern graphics pipelines, and pick a modern graphics API to do other research in (Vulkan, D3D12, Metal)
      I was going to point to a couple Twitter users to go follow, but of course their accounts are gone now. I found a thread I was thinking of but I'm going to have to clean it up and archive it somewhere easy to point to. Probably a Readme on Github. It was a professional graphics programmer with great advice for learning graphics programming.

  • @pah4955
    @pah4955 7 місяців тому +1

    I like this guy. I’m glad I found your channel!

  • @gtabro1337
    @gtabro1337 5 місяців тому +1

    Oh wow you worked on Prey 2017? Much love dude, literally became one my favourite games ever, and I've been gaming for 20+ years, you guys did great.

  • @artechgiants
    @artechgiants 10 місяців тому +1

    Awesome video 😎 👍

  • @ptd3v
    @ptd3v 5 місяців тому +2

    You seem like a nice, genuine person. Have a sub.

  • @hovhadovah
    @hovhadovah 6 місяців тому +2

    I would happily take a pay cut to move from web dev to game dev

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  6 місяців тому +1

      Just know that some game companies pay just as much if not more, if you're willing to work for them :)

  • @rodchester3
    @rodchester3 10 місяців тому +3

    Very cool video and insightful stuff. I'm kind of on the opposite side of this - I make very good pay doing web development but I would rather be working on games.

  • @nicksmith5306
    @nicksmith5306 10 місяців тому +3

    Top man. If you love the job you're doing, you'll never have to work a day in your life. I strongly believe this and would always be happier on less money loving my career.

  • @swator7
    @swator7 10 місяців тому

    thanks for share! :)

  • @TheRegularity
    @TheRegularity 7 місяців тому

    What a great guy. Subbed.

  • @ren-g
    @ren-g 10 місяців тому +3

    Love this video man, thanks so much for sharing. I hope you keep making videos like these, they will gather up subscribers in no time!
    In my country, unfortunately, game dev jobs are crazy scarce, and the good ones pay half (or less) than the typical back-end role at a SaaS company... I have tried looking for remote jobs in game dev but the few that I come across, are really not that interesting (gambling stuff, mini games for elderly people... you get the gist).
    Do you have any insights as to the need of working at the office / lack of remote positions in the game dev industry?
    side-note: i find it so crazy that the market decides to pay so much more for a person doing APIs in vs a person who knows a lot about systems programming. I would really like to unveil this mystery - does it mean games are not profitable, or that game companies are just exploring the passion of their employees?

    • @leonardorodriguez9121
      @leonardorodriguez9121 10 місяців тому +1

      The second. Companies abuse people's passion. You need to pay 100k for someone to want to write APIs but you can get away paying pennies and still people will want to make games

  • @StereoMyth1
    @StereoMyth1 9 місяців тому

    Hey! Im happy to hear that things went good your way , i think that people underestimate how hard it is to be a game programmer.
    I'm currently a junior in my country with a salary of 26K a year , and it is considered the standard here. Fml.

  • @iniquity7
    @iniquity7 9 місяців тому +1

    Love the videos! What computer would you suggest to new game developers. How about best cheap computers to get started, maybe both desktop and laptops. I think a lot of people get sucked into over paying / under performance. I think it would be a great topic for a man of your caliber. Also you seem so genuinely nice and that is so rare in today's world and you help make this world better without even realizing it! Plus I loved the games you worked on!

    • @eye776
      @eye776 9 місяців тому

      It depends on your existing skills and the engine you want to use. For 2D games you can get buy with an integrated laptop GPU.
      For 3D games if you also want to model and rig your own characters, you will need a discrete GPU with at least 4GB of VRAM.
      If you want to use Unreal Engine 5 you need a stronger GPU than for Unity.
      And if you want to use OpenGL, Vulkan or DirectX directly, you can get by with a slightly older GPU.

  • @ssk7690
    @ssk7690 10 місяців тому +1

    you've worked on Mafia 3? I remember not being able to play that game for not having a decent pc. That game is amazing. Nice work! Can you make a detailed video on what responsibilities a person might have in the various roles in game dev...

  • @hatsuneadc
    @hatsuneadc 10 місяців тому +52

    When taking a game development course at my Uni I got heavily discouraged cause I did all the work in my group's project twice.
    I haven't touched Godot/Unity since then and I found a career in enterprise software engineering. Even though I don't love what I'm doing it enables me to invest in my future without worrying about finances whatsoever. I admit, there is no passion for CS anymore but driving a 911 in mountain passes is fun af.

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  10 місяців тому +12

      Lol hey, if you're happy then I think you made the right choice. I definitely think it'll vary by the person!

    • @-Engineering01-
      @-Engineering01- 10 місяців тому +7

      Porsche 911... That's a lot of money, what's your tech stack ? I think you're just outlier i know tons of enterprise developers earn mediocre wage.

    • @NikolaiCherepanov
      @NikolaiCherepanov 9 місяців тому +1

      @@-Engineering01- Just because its a 911 doesn't mean he paid a ton of money for it, I have 8 BMW's at home you'd think im rich, im not I just decide to buy vintage ones and fix them up because they are more enjoyable.

    • @ioritenshi
      @ioritenshi 9 місяців тому

      ​@@NikolaiCherepanovtech industry does pay decently at worst, thats just a fact, same as health industry, theres no miserable/poor doctor

    • @NikolaiCherepanov
      @NikolaiCherepanov 9 місяців тому

      @@ioritenshi Did you even read my comment?

  • @LetsSmiley
    @LetsSmiley 10 місяців тому +1

    Interesting, I remember Ready At Dawn from their little game "Deformers" which I adored. I was really sad when it actually came out and saw the player numbers :P.

  • @MMALifesimulator
    @MMALifesimulator 8 місяців тому +1

    i am a new game dev your video helped me alot

  • @al8905
    @al8905 9 місяців тому

    we definitely need more videos

  • @Eric-vt5gj
    @Eric-vt5gj 10 місяців тому

    Hi great video , I would like to see what is your day in the life looks like maybe office or working from home type of style video (:

  • @rad4805
    @rad4805 10 місяців тому +4

    Couldn't agree more. I've found over time people are more infactuated with a high paying job position, rather than a position that's enjoyable and sustainable. When having a partner that works as well - 2 incomes no children - there's more leeway with finding a fulfilling position in life!

  • @roflixo
    @roflixo 7 місяців тому

    Great retrospective, was always wondering how much people are getting paid in the video game industry.
    For me personally, I started as a student worker, making 13 euro/hour, working 10 hours a week. I went through 2 companies at that time and worked on embedded/IoT projects - mostly internal tools, proof-of-concepts and whatnot. It was just enough not to trigger tax-free amount, so it was great for a student - some experience and extra ~500 euro/month.
    In 3rd year of my bachelor agree I got an internship at top20 tech company in the world (according to market caps), but it was a smaller, European branch. I was making 15 euro/hour as a full-time intern (40 hours/week), as an engineer working on VS/VSC extension related to a product the company was selling.
    A few months ago I started to work as a Junior Software Engineer in a reputable company, and I am making 52k euro/year + bonus + around 10k in stocks yearly, for a total of around 75k euro pre-tax.

  • @MangaGamified
    @MangaGamified 9 місяців тому +1

    From what I learned in my lifetime, if a job or title or position has many fishes in the sea that are passionate / inspired about it, it's a chance for exploitation, like always putting up a "Hiring" post somewhere.
    The only way to get around it is if you're a brand like the developers of Sekiro or Elden ring, or you're the founder / co-founder of that game / product.

  • @TeamZe3ro
    @TeamZe3ro 9 місяців тому +1

    Great video! What was the first week or month like at your first game dev job? What were you expected to do? Were you trained first? Thanks!

  • @dsm6357
    @dsm6357 9 місяців тому

    Glad to see the channel growing. Excellent content, adore the transparency and awareness. Keep up the great work!
    I will not ask any questions since there is like 9/10 people doing it but I truly aspire to be as stable as you are with something you are passionate about 👏🏻

  • @svenbtb
    @svenbtb 10 місяців тому +22

    As far as finding a job and starting a career, do you think it's better for an aspiring game dev programmer to just practice general C++ programming skills (and making small game projects in Unreal and whatnot) or is it better to be specialized and dive in really deep into something specific, like enemy AI, gameplay, game engine creation, writing shaders, etc?

    • @Aivcyon
      @Aivcyon 10 місяців тому +6

      If you 100% new to programming then do general C++ stuff make sure you have the fundimentals down then jump into UE5 or raylib, openGL, etc.

    • @trenboloneacetate1
      @trenboloneacetate1 10 місяців тому +2

      ​@@Aivcyon where can I learn data structures and algorithms in C++ ? I can't find good UA-cam video of DSA in C++. It's all in Java.

    • @gabrielfono844
      @gabrielfono844 10 місяців тому

      @@trenboloneacetate1there are lots courses on udemy in DS in C++

    • @shauas4224
      @shauas4224 10 місяців тому +1

      If you are not going for big projects with some specific mechanics needed, you won't ever need to create game engines(at least you want). And if you start on big project solo, you will learn all aspects to quite an advanced lvl, so it's your choice

    • @Aivcyon
      @Aivcyon 10 місяців тому

      @@trenboloneacetate1 The Cherno has a good C++ series It might be in there

  • @JSINGH14192
    @JSINGH14192 9 місяців тому

    Hey man, great Video.
    I am a beginner software engineer and not a game developer but I loved this video. your commitment to what you love doing is really great, I hope in the near future u upload some c++ videos .. I want to ask a question : during early years of your programming journey, did you contribute in open source projects ?

  • @SlimShady-hk8qp
    @SlimShady-hk8qp 4 місяці тому +2

    Awesome story. I wish California treated you better.. 140k a year just to afford an apartment is insane. Best of luck friend

  • @talhashah3986
    @talhashah3986 10 місяців тому +4

    Hey Chris, I love your content! I was wondering, How important are math and physics for aspiring game programmers? I mean, at what level of math and physics should one know in order to become a game programmer? Your guidance on this topic would be highly appreciated! Keep up the great work! 🎮👍

    • @ls.c.5682
      @ls.c.5682 6 місяців тому +1

      Hey
      Not SyncMain but someone with 10 years of exp here in everything from generalist, to pipeline in vfx, to engine/rendering and then gameplay and now rendering again.
      The answer is: it completely depends. If you want to do gameplay I'd recommend learning simple linear algebra like vectors - normalisation, dot product and cross product, and simple collision detection math. The main thing I think is being able to code these kind of things in a performant way. Learn about CPUs and memory!
      Watch talks by Andreas Fredrikssen, he's at Insomniac and is great for that stuff.
      For rendering learn what I mentioned for gameplay plus matrices and quaternions. Actually, learn quaternions for gameplay too as they're important for rotations.
      If you have further questions ask anytime

  • @kaioh33
    @kaioh33 9 місяців тому

    Wow super awesome to find out you worked on mafia 3. I remember playing it on my toaster pc at 13 fps🤣🤣. Real good times. It was a core i7 4200u and nvidia gt740m pc

  • @bigPauliee
    @bigPauliee 9 місяців тому

    Thanks for the insight man, big ups for the australia footage too lol

  • @Gyro2005
    @Gyro2005 10 місяців тому +4

    You did 3 video and explained more and better the topic than 50 bs video. It is always inspiring and helpful to see people that do their job for years and talking about it. Thank you.

  • @jasonabc
    @jasonabc 10 місяців тому +3

    145K in california is like 50k in the midwest. I know you get to work on some really neat projects but that is working for peanuts.

  • @NH-st2uh
    @NH-st2uh 9 місяців тому

    Would be really cool if you could make a video on the interview process

  • @MichaelJones-nu1rn
    @MichaelJones-nu1rn 6 місяців тому

    More love brother....

  • @stef8776
    @stef8776 10 місяців тому +1

    Do you have a degree in computer science? If not, would that help in the salary department at all? I'm planning to do a career switch and get an MS in CS. It's going to take time but I would like to do graphics engineering or even general game development if possible (I know a degree isn't required for the latter).

  • @benstokes3377
    @benstokes3377 10 місяців тому

    Underrated channel

  • @alexeylozin7443
    @alexeylozin7443 10 місяців тому +1

    Glad you guys were able to move to a better place! Would you recommend unreal/c++ OR unity/c# for aspiring game devs?? Or Should I bother learning ins and outs of developing a game engine myself? Also, what do you program: gameplay/ai/graphics etc?

  • @muzboz
    @muzboz Місяць тому +1

    Cool that you worked on Prey, at Arkane for a bit there. :D

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  Місяць тому +1

      I was an external contractor but got to visit Arkane Austin (and eat my first Texas BBQ), and I learned a ton in just a few months working with them. My only regret is I wasn't able to stay in contact with anyone from there, but it ranks high in the list of awesome memories from working in the industry.
      Nice channel btw, I'm definitely going to be playing your game.

    • @muzboz
      @muzboz Місяць тому +1

      @@SyncMain Thanks! My main inspirations are Thief: The Dark Project, Dishonored, etc. :D

  • @duardo_dm
    @duardo_dm 5 місяців тому +1

    I'm from Brazil and my dream is to be a Game Programmer and live in the USA, at the moment I'm looking for opportunities. Nice video!

  • @krox477
    @krox477 10 місяців тому +3

    Game development attracts me so much but i fear going in.

    • @stronxyo
      @stronxyo Місяць тому

      Fear is the mind killer.
      The only way to grow is facing it.
      You'll be so happy on the other side, trust me, I faced the same fear not long ago.
      Start as soon as you read this.
      Cheers!

  • @Cullol
    @Cullol 10 місяців тому +5

    Hey, I wanna ask some questions:
    What is your role in game dev?
    Where could you go / What roles could you work as with your current skill set if you were to leave Game development?

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  10 місяців тому +8

      I'm a gameplay programmer, so I mainly work on Game AI (NPCs and such) and implementing gameplay mechanics, or tweakable systems that designers can use.
      In the past I've gotten recruiter emails for non-game AR/VR companies, SpaceX/Tesla and other companies that use game engines to run simulations, and the Netflixes and Googles of the world. If I wanted to move laterally out of games though I'd probably pick another interest and learn the related skills on the side. I have another video about figuring out what's required for different roles, but basically I start with looking at job listings and their requirements and work backwards :)
      Thanks for watching!

    • @Cullol
      @Cullol 10 місяців тому +1

      Thank you for the detailed answer and the video, Mr. SyncMain.

  • @VorticyHP
    @VorticyHP 10 місяців тому +1

    it's good to have goals in life and pursue happiness. Anyone can realize their dreams as long as they work towards them!

  • @eldiablo9389
    @eldiablo9389 10 місяців тому

    Hey I'm thinking of getting a game dev later when I finish school and was also interested what a typical task is or what you do normally when you go to work like what do you do on work

  • @piegangxbankroll8970
    @piegangxbankroll8970 10 місяців тому +2

    Very usefulllllllll 🙏🙏🙏👏👏👏👏

  • @KonradGM
    @KonradGM 9 місяців тому

    I'm hoping we will see more videos from you in the future

  • @eye776
    @eye776 9 місяців тому +3

    Game development tends to be among the lowest paid programmer jobs because the competition / turnover rate is high.
    Especially for larger studios, every year there is a fresh batch of starry eyed young professionals who are passionate about game development. And willing to work for cheaper if it means they get to participate in the industry.
    As for smaller or indie studios, they simply cannot afford to pay as much as other larger studios, as such the main driver is passion for game development.

    • @ls.c.5682
      @ls.c.5682 6 місяців тому

      This is the thing - at the start it can be rough, but as you become experienced and know what you're doing you can easily negotiate for more or jump ship to somewhere that will pay you more. I've gone from £25k -> £80k (with more bonuses and perks) in less than 7 years

    • @eye776
      @eye776 6 місяців тому

      @@ls.c.5682 honestly inflation in the past 7 years has eaten up at least 40% of that salary increase. As someone who worked in game development it’s difficult to put a price on burnout when passion is on the line. Taking inflation and price increases into account your wages just about doubled in 7 years, but you’re not getting that time, youth and health back. And it’s unlikely you’ve managed to launch the next Quake, Diablo or Dark Souls either.
      What you did do was make your employer at least 1 million £ richer. Otherwise you wouldn’t have gotten that pay raise.

  • @Emmap11
    @Emmap11 7 місяців тому +1

    Transparent and without nonsense, I love it! Great Video!

  • @asdfssdfghgdfy5940
    @asdfssdfghgdfy5940 10 місяців тому +2

    The GIS joke lol. I gave up eventually and told people “I make maps”.

  • @rivenissmart
    @rivenissmart 9 місяців тому +1

    any tips for getting into game programming companies? I've been applying for months, but just can't seem to find any job that is willing to accept me. I've applied for at least 200 jobs within the past couple of months, with little to no replies so far. I love game development; mostly working in Rust and C++ currently, but just not getting accepted is extremely discouraging.

  • @13romor
    @13romor 10 місяців тому +2

    Hi , I'm a big video game player for a long time, more or less actively competitive depending on games but w/e.
    I'm kind of disappointed with the quality of most games especially triple A's these days, so I've started my journey to try to make my own video game someday.
    Started to learn C++ to begin with 1 month ago ( got lots of free time, not so stressed, so I'm able to focus on it for few hours a day ), then imma see what's the best way to go after I at least understand the basics, I wanna learn and understand about the online part of the picture aswell. Already played around a bit with Unreal Engine 5.
    Any tips for my journey ?
    Thanks to share your story :)

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  10 місяців тому

      Hey taking the time to learn how to make your own games can be fun and rewarding, and I think it's a great constructive way to handle being disappointed with games coming out. Shortly after I became interested in game dev there was a big boom in indie gaming. For me it started on Newgrounds, and then Braid came out and more indies started seeing commercial success, which triggered a flood of newcomers and creative ideas. When I really started getting into it, Indie Game the Movie was announced with short clips, and Minecraft exploded. Me and many others were fired up about the idea of small and solo dev teams, and some of the games that came out still inspire me (and distract me lol) to this day.
      I suggest exploring different ideas that you come up with, but try to stick with whatever toolset you start with at least for a little while before switching it up. There's way more resources than there were when I started, and there were more resources then than 10 years prior - and on it goes. Link up with fellow indie devs and beginners online, check out what other people are building, be inspired, and share your progress early and often. You'll find many people who are willing to give feedback on what you make if you just put it out there, which can help you build better games.
      Good luck!

    • @13romor
      @13romor 10 місяців тому

      thanks for you answer :) yeah ressources now are huge, if you know how to use Google any knowledge or informations are few clicks away.
      nowadays aswell there are many indies showing a passionate way, Minecraft was really a big boom back in the days, still making noise now lol.
      thanks for your advices, will try to make a good use of them :)
      Have a good day and continuation !@@SyncMain

  • @Ansh-sp3ij
    @Ansh-sp3ij 7 місяців тому

    Man, you're really cool!

  • @jbail2547
    @jbail2547 10 місяців тому +1

    Super interesting , i just found this channel. I am very new to programming and am in a very strange situation where i am being sponsered for my visa in a completely different work(need to do 4years). So I'm just trying to learn and become proficient in c++ in my limited free time and hopefully by the end of my sponsorship i will have enough knowledge or completed projects to have a decent portfolio for a related job (the dream is game development) any advice from anyone would be appreciated, anyway greao video and ive subscribed for the dreamcast

    • @SyncMain
      @SyncMain  10 місяців тому +1

      4 years is a lot of time! Take your time, don't burn yourself out, and make sure you do things that are exciting or relaxing (we only have one life.) It's tough enough to work full time and learning stuff on the side can be rewarding, but also tiring. If you're really feeling inclined to jam on something you're learning or working on, go for it, but allow yourself to have a bad week in terms of working toward a goal if you're just not feeling it.
      I think I'll take my own advice and turn on that Dreamcast the night I upload my next video 🙂 Thanks for watching!

  • @atilacorreia
    @atilacorreia 9 місяців тому +1

    Exploitation is well known within the gaming industry.
    Insane OT (some unpaid as you mentioned), crazy dealines and lower salary compared to the "regular software" industry in exchange for your passion. That's not even accounting for the job insecurity, with massive layoffs weather the project you were working was successful or not.

  • @user-ss7hw1qo3x
    @user-ss7hw1qo3x 9 місяців тому +1

    I forgot to tell to everyone who is developing games. If you really loves that - you working not becayse of position or the big salary. Life is all about to enjoying the best of we love, so lets do it.