7 yoe at same studio in Irvine, CA 89k TC (7% bonus) I asked my employer for more compensation at my annual review right before Christmas. They finally got back to me about a week ago with a simple “no”, no counter offer or anything. I think I’m actually done with gamedev, despite loving what I do, due to TC. I’ve started up the leetcode grind to start looking elsewhere in tech. I plan to apply to Facebook/Oculus, Google, and Amazon, preferably im the Irvine/LA area. Has anyone had a great transition from game dev into FAANG as a SWE? Did anyone deeply regret it? What aspects were really challenging if you’ve made this career move?
That's some terrible TC. How did you survive?
Paycheck to paycheck and long commutes!
For comparison, fang interns get paid more.
This ^
I interviewed at several companies last year, including Riot and Amazon. Both companies had similar offers of $300k+. I chose Amazon, because of the project but money wise they were pretty much the same. (LA area btw)
Don't riot pay good?
That’s what I was thinking, it’s not a big move from Irvine to LA
I left the game industry recently. Game studios tend to have very little growth opportunities and pay below market rate. The pay disparity isn't as noticeable in smaller cities, but in the Bay Area, it's VERY noticeable. Pretty close (or more) to double when you include RSUs. There's more room to grow too. You can always return to the game industry if you're willing.
What kind of role did you have at WB games ..? How’s the product team over there? I’m kind of reluctant to apply, all their mobile games have done pretty badly so far ..
Apply to Amazon, they’re hiring for the LoTR project and pay well for SWE from what I hear. In Irvine.
Twitch has an office in Irvine
I did it. Do I regret it? Not so much. Work feels like actual work now, but my salary doubled so it is fine.
Kick your company's ass. Move to Faang right now.
Riot and Epic pay top dollar for games. I heard Valve does as well, but do they even make games anymore?
Are those the only three? It would be good to have a solid list of high paying game studios. Also, out of those three, who pays the best?
Microsoft and Amazon are making games and Google is opening a studio in Montreal. They will also pay high. This guy is in Irvine and Amazon makes games there and Microsoft acquired Obsidian, but I don't know if they get MS money.
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Why not look for something gamedev-adjacent, like working on Xbox or Stadia or Playstation? Or working on backends at somewhere like EA? You don't have to actually write the games to stay in the game space and get more TC.
Msft also has inhouse game studios like the Forza team at Redmond Town Center which pays the same band as non-game-devs.