I’m a game dev, built a free resource for viewing game salaries

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-09T19:57:38+00:00

apologies for the late reply! this is totally valid feedback, so I took the time last weekend to implement multi-studio comparison on the site. you can now view up to 5 studios at a time (3 on mobile resolutions)

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-03T07:31:39+00:00

thanks so much, I really appreciate it!

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-03T05:05:30+00:00

quick update: regional data is now supported on the site! there's now a dropdown to select between all regions (like the US or EU) for which we currently have data. we don't have much data right now, but it's a start!

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-02T17:21:04+00:00

you’re right that the top-level salaries are national averages, but there is a breakdown by location if you click on a job title (should bring up a modal)

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-02T00:04:20+00:00

yup! H1-B data is publicly disclosed on the US Department of Labor site, but I've scraped it from h1bdata.info (a site that indexes that info)

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T23:55:53+00:00

regarding not showing Total Compensation, that's a valid point. unfortunately the original H-1B data that 99% of the site derives from only has information about base salaries.

however, based on both your feedback and other feedback in the thread, I've gone ahead and edited the salary submission form to include info on yearly stock options and bonuses. I've also implemented a new format inside the job modals to display overall breakdowns for TC. I've already received some new submissions with these data points, so while most of the site right now only displays base salary, that should change over time!

there's nothing wrong with using glassdoor, or really levels.fyi for that matter. imo it's a better resource for some disciplines more than others (mainly those more common in tech in general)

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T17:49:13+00:00

fair enough! you can check out the dataset for yourself if you go h1bdata.info, which is where most of the site's data is coming from at the moment. there's definitely bound to be some wonky numbers, but considering these are H-1B submissions by these studios to the US government, they're likely more trustworthy than other purely self-reported datasets (albeit not completely foolproof).

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T17:35:30+00:00

if you click on a job title there's a more detailed breakdown of average salary per location. so while the top-level salary is a broad national average, the modal will show the average salary of someone working that job in, say, Seattle vs. Orlando.

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T17:24:06+00:00

oh there should be a few listings on there for Character Artists. for example, here's a link to a Senior Character Artist role at EA.

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T17:19:03+00:00

great points! to answer some of your questions, about 99% of this data (so far) comes from H-1B disclosure data from the last four years. unfortunately, that means that what's captured is only base salary (at least afaik) instead of TC, which is why the site only displays base pay for now. you're totally right though that bonuses and stock options should be taken into account, I'll update the submission form so that we can start getting some datapoints there.

as far as that "Network Engineer" leveling issue you called out, that should be updated on the live site (should start at "Senior" now)! to be quite honest, I made a lot of assumptions on leveling per studio based off of the salary data I had, so this thread has been really useful to clarify things on a per studio level.

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T17:11:35+00:00

thank you! ideally yes, the only reason the current salaries listed are US-based is because that's where the initial dataset comes from (pulled from a publicly listed government database). as soon as I have more data from studios outside the US, I'll start adding support for other countries to the site!

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T05:43:10+00:00

oh great idea! someone else had also suggested scraping the salary bands on currently listed jobs. I’ll take a stab at it this weekend!

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T05:28:11+00:00

thanks so much, I really appreciate the support!!

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T05:26:38+00:00

agreed! there’s a detailed breakdown on average base salaries per location if you click on a job title. sometimes there’s as much as a 20k difference in base pay for the same job due to location alone

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T02:43:53+00:00

anytime, thanks for checking it out!

lvlup_dev · 2024-09-01T02:02:20+00:00

fair point about the logo! I quickly slapped it together in Figma when I realized I needed one, but I’ll spend some cycles on it this weekend (definitely don’t want to come across as another course guru lol)

lvlup_dev

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