Game-Art - Does it pay good?

[moose o death]

personally making the worlds is more important to me than the money. that said i also don't want to work on games i want to play. i'd rather make others happy and not ruin the experience of the games i want to play in my spare time. if i spend 4 years staring at the rocks i built i'm not buying that game at launch.i've done nothing but look at it and test the thing for years.

it's a moot point for now though still need someone to get me out of phones and into gameart to begin with. i still need to pay my bills

[doylle]

Originally Posted by glynnsmith

I disagree with the "if you're doing it for the money" comments. Why else would you go through the hassle of creating game art for an evil, bloodsucking, money-grabbing company if not for the money? If the money factor wasn't so important, we'd all be sitting at home working on our personal projects and things that we're REALLY wanting to be working on.

Don't get me wrong. Of course the money is important. I wouldn't do it if they didn't pay me right. But compared to what you could earn in another profession, game-art generally isn't going to make you as rich (as far as I know).

[WesleyTack]

Money is always an issue, saying you're not in it for the money is BS (all those who say that can call me and I'll start a company right now). Salary is also dependent on the location, the same job wont get payed as much if you are working in Singapore rather than New York. I think aside from what the salary is what's also important is the location and look of the offices and feel of the people you are working with (this is basically what Talon said, if you enjoy something and you are excited about a project you wont look at money as much).

[X-Convict]

Yeah Glynnsmith, of course the money is important because we all need it to live by, and you can definitely make good money in the industry if you find a good company and do great work. Even though there are a lot of 'evil, bloodsucking, money-grabbing companies' out there, there are still good people to work under and talented people to learn from that make work a lot more fun.

Point still being, if you're interesting in just making money, you should look into a more profitable profession, if you really love what you do and want to make games, then you will make decent money and have a very rewarding satisfaction completing milestones and shipping titles.

[sarge mat]

I think it all comes down to the person, I don’t think anyone who just wants to make money will think about being a game artist because it takes a lot of work to get into and there are other jobs that pay a lot better, but someone might go for a higher paying job if they needed some extra cash even if it was not as interesting a project.

I think what WesleyTack said about the people you work with etc is very important as well.

[glynnsmith]

Originally Posted by Talon

Fuck that.

If EA came and said to me "We can pay you ten grand more than what you're making now and you'll be working on [generic EA franchise] 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, want the job?"... I wouldn't be taking the job.

I think you've taken my point slightly, twisted it, bent it round your EA thing and then passed it back, trying to convince me it's the exact same thing :P I think you've taken a portion of my point and blown it up, which is obviously going to require one of those long-ass, drawn-out glynnsmith explanations which you'd not wish upon your worst enemy.

My point is that it's not bad to accept money, or want money, for the work that we do. I pisked up on a general attitude that all game artists should be these perfect, angelic people, shrouded in light, working through high morals that turns them into, at best, a charity case. The attitude was that working, for money, is bad. Imight've transposed that into something slightly different, but we're at that point where tomayto does, infact, equal tomahto.

EA are obviously on the outer rim of that range because they've released 1 game I've played in the last 2 years, they keep their game devs in cages, prodding them with tazers, etc etc. If you're into that sort of thing, which I'm sure there're a number of you out there that are, then EA is perfectly acceptable and you shouldn't be made to feel bad if you want to work there.

BUT! You have gone to the trouble of making yourself martketable to games studios, you've built up a portfolio, you've applied to games studios, went for interviews, you've schmoozed the bosses and now, after expending quite a bit of effort, you're working for a studio. That's great. You're in a decent studio you can brag about now But you're not sitting at home, jobless, without a care in the world, are you? You're providing a service for cash. You want money for that service. I think that's the correct and proper mentality.

aaaaand that's my point.

It's slightly hypocritical that you're trying to say you're not bothered about making money, with the effort you've put into it - and I know you put a lot of effort into your work, game artist community.

[benclark]

Its one thing for us younger guys to say we do it purely for the love, but who wants to be a 40 year old modeler on an entry level wage with a family to feed? Who cares if you are working on a 'cool' title if your kids are wearing crisp bags instead of shoes?

Because game development is inevitably linked with art and artists, it seems to me there is always this feeling that wanting to be paid well for doing your work is a negative thing. Sure it absolutely cannot be your main motivation but like Wesley said its always an issue.

People always present these 2 polar extremes - working on a great project for crappy wages, or working on a shitty project for good money. Like you have to either sell your soul or be a starving artist

[Jimi]

I decide not to sell my soul. More fun doing it as a hobby. It was painful to wake up early and go to work, finally in the evening being so tired that couldn't do anything but sleep. But sure I got enough money there.

[germball]

Originally Posted by Talon

Fuck that.

If EA came and said to me "We can pay you ten grand more than what you're making now and you'll be working on [generic EA franchise] 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, want the job?"... I wouldn't be taking the job.

Well its good that you would make that decision, however, it's is not always that simple. And not everyone can cherry pick on which jobs they want. In the PS1 and early PS2 days, you could take your pick of studios, but you can't now, not in the UK anyway. Beggers can't always be choosers.

It's a fact that working in games and even film, that not everyone will get to work on the the next GTA, Crysis, Gears of War, Final Fantasy, LOTR, Batman, etc, etc. Not every game you will work on will be a major hit. You may say it doesn't matter, and you're doing it for the love of the job, but it's not a good feeling when you work hard on a game for 1-2 years and then see it crash and burn, or get panned by a critic because he doesn't get it. And that will happen, and the sooner you grasp that concept the better you will be for it.

All you can do in any job is focus on what you do best and do that job. Don't get caught up in things that you basically have no control over, just keep producing the quality of work, that's expected of you. People will very often judge you on that, more on whether you make hit games or not. Each project you do just builds up more experiance, so when that real gem comes along, you'll be better equipped for it.

Also you shouldn't be so dissmissive of EA, they are not as bad as you might think, and they're no better or worse than anyone else. I worked at EA for many years, so I know first hand on what they are like. It frustrates me when people talk and make assumptions about what EA is like and what they will work on, when they've never worked there. I'm not saying EA are are perfect, no game dev is, but when people have worked there and done some projects, then they can make a call on them, but until then, you know nothing.
(Apologies for the minor rant)

[lefix]

just curious, if anyone knows. how does game art compare to film, advertising/commercials or visualisation salaries? or whatever else there is.