Want to make games? Drop out now!

[alexxkay]

Game Developer Magazine's latest issue features the results of their annual salary survey. Although there are caveats involved with any set of self-reported data, I think at least the relationships between different subsets of data are likely to be accurate. And I noticed something that surprised me in the table "Average Salary by Education and Discipline".

In all disciplines, those who completed "Some College" make significantly *more* than those who completed a Bachelor's Degree. Those who went on to "Some Graduate" made even *less* than those with Bachelor's.

Actually *completing* a Master's Degree gets you a salary roughly comparable to "Some College", though in some disciplines it's a bit less, in some a bit more. In none is it *enough* more to suggest being worth the investment.

At the Doctoral level, only Programmers reported anything. "Some Doctoral" makes more money than "Some College" -- but an actual Doctorate makes *less*.

So, if you're a college student who wants a successful career in the games industry, apparently the best thing you can do is drop out!

Comments

[dariusk.livejournal.com]

The GDMag Salary survey goes by gross salary received alone -- not your net income after expenses. So that wouldn't factor in.

What happens with Doctoral students is again a function of experience: it's only very very recently that people with PhDs have been getting game industry jobs. Since they've only been in the industry a few years, their relative inexperience will balance out any starting salary boost they may get from their degree.

[greatsword.livejournal.com]

In any numbers, perhaps. But I've worked with a physics PhD on and off since 1997. Admitedly, his degree was rare enough to draw comment.

[dariusk.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure, I mean look at the founders of BioWare. They're both PhDs.