Average salary of game developers is down from 2012, says survey

The average salary for game developers dropped by 2 percent in 2013 compared to the same period the year prior, a new survey from Gamasutra confirms.

The Game Developer Salary Survey is based on information gathered between the period of Jan. 1, 2013, to Dec. 31, 2013, based on over 4,000 responses worldwide.

Among its key findings is evidence of a major increase in the average salary of indie studio teams, which saw a 161 percent rise to $50,833; however, solo indie developers saw on average a major decrease in salary by 49 percent to $11,812.

Per discipline, the survey found that audio professionals made a greater salary than all other disciplines, with professionals making an average of $95,682 in the U.S. Comparatively, programmers made an average of $93,251, producers made $82,286, artists and animators made $74,349, game designers made $73,864 and quality assurance staff made $54,833.

Full results of the survey can be found here.