Highlights
- The GDC Salary Report shows an average salary of $142,000, yet 53% of U.S. full-time and 69% of contractual and part-time staff feel underpaid.
- Significant wage divides persist across different studios and roles, with AAA developers earning far more than those in AA and indie studios.
- With a 15% gender wage gap and 27% racial pay gap, the report suggests dissatisfaction among women, non-binary, and non-white workers.
The Game Industry Salary Report, based on a survey conducted by GDC Festival of Gaming, has exposed the widening disparities across the U.S. gaming industry workforce, reinforcing concerns that compensation levels have not kept pace with the industry’s commercial expansion. Published this week, the report surveyed 562 game industry professionals in the U.S., starting from March 2025, and highlighted longstanding issues in the industry.
According to the report, 60% of the surveyed professionals believe the U.S. gaming industry saw a slight rise in the average salary. The current average salary, $142K, is above the median salary range of $129K. Almost 53% of the full-time workers reported that they are underpaid relative to their responsibilities.
While most of the industry professionals mentioned their salary meets basic necessities, over half of all respondents feel somewhat or significantly undercompensated, with only 5% believing they are overcompensated.
Salary report details and underlying trends
The GDC report outlines several recurring concerns, mainly the wage gap across junior and mid-level roles. To put it in perspective, 23% of participants reported earning between $50,000 and $99,999, while 25% reported earning between $125,000 and $199,999, and 5% reported earning less than $15K.
Wages vary across divisions, with management and operational personnels making the highest, an average of $160K, while visual artists make $124K. Other notable highlights that directly influenced salary structure are seniority, experience, and higher academic degrees like a Master’s and PHD.
There's also a payment discrepancy among different studios. For instance, compared to 75% in AA and 50% in independent studios, 85% of AAA employees made more than $100K.
The sense of under-compensation between full-time employees and contractual or outsourced workers remains wide. Around 69% of contractual and part-time staff inthe U.S. reported their dissatisfaction with their payment.
Uneven Pay Structure Reflects Industry Volatility
The salary report also underscores the persistent pay inequities across gender and race, a pattern long noted in tech and creative labor. Currently, there is a 15% gender wage disparity in the U.S., highlighting the uneven pay structure in the country’s gaming industry.
gdconf.com
Among the professionals, 60% of women and non-binary professionals reported feeling undercompensated, compared to 50% of men. The survey also revealed economic disparities between colored and white workers; 62% non-white professionals reported the pay discrepancy versus 50% of white respondents. With individuals of color earning 27% less than white coworkers, the issue of racial bias remains strong.
GDC’s Game Industry Salary Report reignites the pertinent labor tension in the U.S. gaming industry. From uneven pay structure to gender and racial bias, the industry is failing to keep pace with commercial growth and cultural complexity, while highlighting industrywide volatility. 80% of the surveyed people described the gaming industry as a “less secure” workplace in comparison with other industries.
GDC also confirmed that the report has a 3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level, to affirm its credibility.
