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game programmer interview

Started by Xcalibur_fr2 Jan 9, 2005 at 9:01 AM 7 replies 2.1k views
Original Post
Xcalibur_fr2
Xcalibur_fr2
Hi, We are some students from the university of Paul Sabatier ( Toulouse, France ) and we would like that somes game programer answer somes of our question for a school work. The goal is to analyse a job that interest us and then to check if it is what we realy want to do latter. In our case, we have selected the job of game programmer. Below are the questions that we would like that somes game programmers answer ( it is a sort of interview after all ) : *Can you talk about yourself ( Name, Age, Job, City, Country, Hobbies, etc... ) ? *What do you need to do in your job ? *Why did you select this job ? *What sort of studies did you do ? *How many hours ( average ) do you work per week ? *What are the skills and studies that are required for this job ? *What kind of salary range is available to a game programmer? Do you think that you are well paid ? *Are there any risk in this job ? *Do you like what you are doing ? *Do you recommand this job ? *Do you have anything else to add ? We will be very pleased if some of you answer this short interview ( if you don't want to answer on the forum, you can contact me by mail : arielr@intnet.mu ) Cheers. Sorry for my english... it's not my native language ! [Edited by - Xcalibur_fr2 on January 9, 2005 11:23:20 AM]
Derakon
Derakon
I would suggest that you try to at the least get a phone conversation with your "target". Interviews should not be constrained to a prescribed set of questions; they should be discussions guided by those questions. While you will probably hit each question during the interview at some point, you may discover some interesting tidbit along the way that deserves further attention. This is rather difficult to do on a web board but is trivial in a real conversation.

At any rate, I'm still a student, so I wouldn't really be able to help you with your content.
Jetblade: an open-source 2D platforming game in the style of Metroid and Castlevania, with procedurally-generated levels
nimrand
nimrand
Also, be VERY careful when asking about one's salary. While some people may not care if you ask them, its generally not considered a polite question to ask. If you do ask, please be sure to tell them that they are allowed to not answer. A better question may be to ask, "What kind of salary range is available to a game programmer?". That way, you are not asking for any personal.
hplus0603
hplus0603
Game Developer Magazine does a salary survey every year. It shows the range of salaries for game developers (including bonus and royalty where applicable) is about $40k/yr to $300k/yr. The average on the west coast seems to be around $80k/yr. I have several friends who have about 5 years of experience, and are pretty smart, who make about $110k/yr. I also know people who aren't as experienced, who make more about $60k/yr.

Comparing salary between countries is kind-of hard, though, as taxes, benefits, and conditions vary. Common in the US gaming industry is that the company pays for your medical and dental insurance, but you pay for your family members (that can hit you for $600/month!); 15 days of combined sick leave and vaccation per year, plus company holidays; 401k retirement plan that you fund alone (with no company matching), etc. Very large companies will have better benefits, but a company like EA is known for forcing 80 hour work weeks and wearing people out in a few years.

Meanwhile, most Europeans get medical and retirement through taxes, and 25 or 30 days of vaccation. Base salaries are usually lower, and taxes are usually higher.
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Xcalibur_fr2
Xcalibur_fr2
Thanks for all your answers ! In France, game development isn't very active... You just have to see how many *hits* come from France...

Still there many editors ( like Ubisoft ), but they prefer to make games in other country ! Anyway it seems that the average salary in France is about 30 000 Euros, but you will need to remove about 20 % for the tax. You have a lot of advantage, but everyone have these advantage here ( medical, studies, stop working , etc... ).

The job of game programmer here isn't a good job since you will not have the same salary as an engineer for example ( even if you are an engineer ). Many french developers prefer to go in the USA for example to work. There are realy a few game developer in france now, and it's very hard to find them ( all french studios as closed : Kalisto, Cryo, and many more... ), so it's quite hard to call them by phone.

Nobody want to answer to my questions ? Please !!
MikeyO
MikeyO
Quote:
Meanwhile, most Europeans get medical and retirement through taxes, and 25 or 30 days of vaccation. Base salaries are usually lower, and taxes are usually higher.


Base salaries (and cost of living) in Europe are usually higher, at least the parts I've been to. That's just in general though, a McDonalds worker might earn $10/hour there where one here would earn $6, I could certainly imagine that a white collar worker earning less in a European country because they have more socialist values (Trying to keep wages more 'fair') than the United States.

I don't know how many professional game developers actually peruse this site, I know there are a few, but it's certainly mostly amateurs like myself.
Zipster
Zipster
Because most professional game developers are busy... developing games! [smile] Very few actually have the free time to sit down and answer questions on forums, and the free time they do have is most likely spent doing other things, especially things that don't involve programming because that's already what they do 40+ hours a week.
Succinct
Succinct
/agree Zipster.

Before I went pro, I used to pour over these forums and #gamedev. Nowadays, I look at them once a month when I'm doing lots of rebuilds for whatever reason, and even then only for the 20 min the build takes. Otherwise, I just don't have time.
-- Succinct(Don't listen to me)

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