Transparency law: This is how much you earn at game developers like EA or Riot Games

It is a dream of many young gamers. To develop their own video games and to be paid handsomely for it – in their own imagination. A new transparency law that came into force in the US state of California on January 1, 2023, now reveals how much people in the gaming industry really earn. It forces companies to disclose salaries in a job posting. But in doing so, companies are taking advantage of massive salary ranges.

New transparency law in California discloses salaries

The U.S. state had passed a new transparency law in September last year that forces companies to disclose salaries when advertising jobs. Since January 01, 2023, the law has come into force, but companies in the gaming industry in particular sometimes disclose immense salary ranges.

As Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier notes via Twitter, the salary ranges differ greatly depending on the developer and game studio. At Activision Blizzard, for example, one position talks about $134,000 to $247,900 per year, while another ranges from $80,800 – $149,400 per year.

League of Legends developer Riot Games, known for its comparatively good salaries according to Schreier, also only mentions an extremely broad salary range including possible bonus payments. The same goes for Electronic Arts, while Call of Duty developer Treyarch pays around $30-60 per hour in a mid-level position.

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Job postings by position

Job postings in the process mostly include individual titles and positions such as junior, mid-level or senior, which makes it harder to define exactly how much a person ultimately earns at studios. Professional experience could also not be directly deduced from the job postings in this way.

The games industry is usually very secretive about salaries. In addition, the disclosed salaries only apply to the USA. In Germany, Hamburg-based developer InnoGames had disclosed salaries for various positions at its German site last year, as GamesWirtschaft reported.

“Salary transparency is a matter of fairness – not only to employees, but also to applicants,” said InnoGames co-founder and COO Michael Zillmer. Contrary to Zillmer’s hope, however, hardly any other games companies have so far followed their own example and disclosed their salaries. “InnoGames’ salaries are de facto in the top third of the German market,” Zillmer continues.