Thanks so much to GameDevMap for providing such an excellent data source for job-hunting game developers around the world.

Our Weighted Score takes into account number of studios and estimated overall head count in each city. I am not sure if all companies are ok with offering internships to international students. And if possible, its best to visit your top schools to see them in person before making a decision. (Seattle is also brimming with hundreds of delicious teriyaki shops, but thats beside the point.). Hi jason. Here are the best states for Game Developers in 2022: You can read about how the best state rankings are calculated. Please visit GameDevMap.com to explore game studios and publishers from an interactive map-based interface. Game artists and designers are generally not as able to move to different non-game companies, so the competition is lower and so is the pay. Why should you work at a mobile game company? Thanks again! According to that list there are 156 Developers in Montreal alone. But i am not satisfied with . I am from india and can u really suggest me a degree for becoming a game programmer and which is the best city for employment and is becoming a game programmer a good idea coz the employment rate has been decreasing since 2014. . Game Job Hunter maintains a list here: https://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-new-york-city/, its worth checking out. However, it can be misleading since there can be game studios in different cities but in the same metropolitan area. Heres why. How to Use Unity Cinemachine Virtual Cameras. Hi Giselle, game studios are maddeningly difficult to track because they can come and go so frequently. game developer much salary developers kotaku 2009 games patented released results magazine insight survey gives which into Computer science and computer engineering are the most common majors for people with jobs as game developers. It will help you get started. Theyre known as game development hotbeds because they contain more game dev studios and more game jobs than any others. Thanks for the link, Jeff, looks like a nice resource for Boston devs. hope you pay your attention towards this, As i am from india. It is also a buzzing game hub with tech meet ups and a close knit development community which can be invaluable at this stage in your career. Scotlands booming game industry is not to be overlooked. How good is University of Houston Victoria? To assemble these charts, I used raw data from the comprehensive crowd-sourced database at GameDevMap.com and collated by the various dimensions using pivot tables in Microsoft Excel. Why move to a rain-soaked city like Seattle, Washington, when you could work at a game dev studio in a sunny beach town like Tampa, Florida? I am working Indian gaming industry. Also, I live in Orange County and see the obvious Irvine (Blizzard), but it would have been best to have Orange County on there and not just Irvine. screenshots embed I wonder whether there is a thriving startup and indie game developer community in New York area? That said I do understand the merits of having a large number of studios within one city. Thank you for all the great information on your site. how2become responsibilities Hi Kevin, thanks for your comment. Are there any training colleges in U.S.? Its very difficult to move to any of those cities if you arent wealthy or dont know anyone there to help you out. Would be nice to update this page since its the first one to show up in Google, for instance Montral has much more studios that Austin / SF, Ubisoft MTL alone has 3.5K+ employees. :/. I have not updated this since 2015 I dont think the gamedev landscape has changed much, but maybe its due for an update soon. Studios not on that list: Amtote, Firaxis Games (2k), Zenimax (Bethesda), Breakaway Games, Oxcide (Stardock), Big Huge Games, Sparkypants, Unit-E, and a handful of small (1-3 person) indie studios. I know generally speaking its more difficult to get a job when applying from out of state. Artificial intelligence and Computer graphics are what I can think of. But included are ones with 2 guys in a basement making games. But there are also many other colleges and universities in the US that offer game-related degrees, or a non-game degree with a video game focus, which would also be good. Making games for a living is an incredibly rewarding career, but its hard to break in unless you have insider knowledge. Your article provides a great start for researching the US gaming industry. Hi Tony, glad the article was helpful. Hi Jeff, its great to hear that the Philippines has so many game-related schools and game studios. Its amazing article i read all comments also. Some stand clearly apart from the rest when it comes to game development. One tip, the larger studios/publishers are more likely to have the right HR systems in place to handle petition/permit, so it might be easier to start with the bigger shops first. skylines cities mobygames game

Same with Spanish if I were to move to America. And thank you for the suggestion for a new article! Nice article. There are however some missing studio in the listing for Paris. Since this is for an international student, we are looking for a good economical college and that which is friendly to international students too. It seems that NY is the hotbed of gaming industry in the East Coast. Long famous for game development, Tokyo, Japan is a heavyweight with nearly 60 game companies including the likes of Bandai Namco, Konami, Hudson Soft, and Square Enix. I compared with others stream like: software developers or designers. ), but definitely lots of good info there.

development designer game mod money If you dont usually care to go Gangnam style, you just might be into it after a plate of bulgogi and many little cups of soju. moresby Its always a grey area when you start breaking data down by city because it can look different depending on whether youre including just the official city limits, or the greater metropolitan area, whether or not suburbs are included, etc. game dev story kairosoft strategywiki simulation We rely on everybody to build out that database, so if you have a little time, you could really help the community by adding the Philippines game studios to the data set at GameDevMap.com and it will show up next time I update this article. Can you give any tips on applying for employment with game companies from out of state? German is my favourite language but doesnt have the most studios. Seoul, South Korea has become famous for its passionate and highly-skilled RTS athletes. salary game developer programmer average programmers survey gamecareerguide computer male female Which university you would recommend in this case and the program that could benefit his career. Thank you for the helpful info about Scotland, and for the company directory link. Girish, you can try fiea, university of Utah, rit, smu and so many more in the US. This article was originally published a few years ago (maybe 2019?) The answer is, because Tampa is home to just 3 game studios, while Seattle is bursting at the seams with over 30 game studios. As for employment outlook in the future, I can tell you that the game industry is growing quickly with no sign of slowing. This stretches from 1 to 2 man studios up to high growth studios like Outplay with over 80 developers. You may need to get in touch with some Japanese development studios to learn more. Most of the top game dev countries are in North America and Europe, so it looks to be worth considering a move if youre outside of those regions if you want to be in a hotbed. More info about game programming portfolios. With even more options like Kiev, Stockholm, or Brisbane, theres no excuse not to explore the world while still pursuing your game dev career in one of the best ways possible: by relocating to a game development hotbed. We promise not to bombard your inbox. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients, Game Developer Jobs in District of Columbia. I dont really have the option to move first before I find a job though, meaning i would have to get a job first and then move. Its disappointing though that you focused on England studios in your breakdown when Scotland as part of the UK has such a significant amount of game development happening. Focus on making a good programming portfolio to show employers. Artists also working on chip price. Do you know how can he study in USA to develop his future career in this area? game designer salary facts discover guide much Why? Hi Girish, I cant recommend one school over another, but keep in mind that there are multiple paths to game design. What are the electives to take up? Hi Jesse, check out my article about the best way to start game programming while youre in high school. industry games gap wage game developer graphs magazine salary themarysue Thats true, some of the areas in this list are overly-granular (and LA is huge!). I plan to move there soon once I find a job. Theres a partial list at the video game schools article. Video game development is an international business for sure. Hi Rask the charts show number of game studios, not employee count, which is generally useful even though it under-represents the contribution of giant studios like Ubisoft. Specifically in Dundee at the last count there were over 40 studios http://scottishgames.net/companydirectory/ Great topic btw! Hi! Thanks for pointing that out. Hi Minghui, yes, there are a number of game developers in New York. To determine the best states for game developers, we looked at the our most recent data, and then we ranked each of the 50 states from best to worst. Would you mind telling me which video game companies offer internships to international students? Fwiw, I moved to Seattle from Nashville to work in the game industry. tycoon dev Oregon has a median salary of $107,541 and Oregon has the highest median salary among all 50 states for game developers. Thank you for your comment! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Best Cities for Video Game Development Jobs. But I couldnt find information for training in these countries. Hi Samantha, I know quite a lot of devs that moved from the UK to the US. Since youll be an international student, there may be some additional rules and paperwork that smaller studios are not equipped to handle, so again, I think larger companies will be better for you to pursue. California is expensive, but they pay a bit more and there are more game studios than Texas, so it may be easier to find a job. I am a Muslim so the availability of job and lifestyle is a really important factor for my future (Thank you very much). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Hi, my husband is currently studying to become an Art and Animator in the gaming industry. Its great to see that Austin is still one of the top city. salary salaries Hi Carlos! Thank you for the suggestion, Richard. Thank you Jason, thats my problem. woops, forgot: Wargaming has a studio in Baltimore too (formally Day 1 Studios). Hi Eve, thank you for that suggestion. 65 colleges and universities have animation classes and there are dozens of studios there. They dont come forward because they do outsourcing for the major reputed companies over the globe. http://www.mtlgs.ca/studios/. In fact, the city where you find your next job might be the most important decision you make in your entire career. I think its because many companies are competing for programmers (including non-game companies), which drives up the game programmers salaries. can you just help out in this country by your stats and job locations and all. Learn how your comment data is processed. The US, England and Canada have a lot to offer you for game jobs. How job opportunity is for fresher after doing MS from US University. From Montreal, Ottowa, and Quebec City in the east, all the way to Vancouver lying 5,000 kilometers to the west, Canada offers over 100 video game studios located in hotbed cities. So its no surprise that its a home to over 20 game studios including industry heavies like Ubisoft, Epic Games, Taito, and Blizzard. I dont see a place on gamedevmap.com to contribute. Can you provide a sense of the number of actual development jobs within each country and/or city? Your email address will not be published. I wonder how accurate this data set is for other cities. Thank you for the kind words! Its a fantastic city, and one of the least expensive on the list for locations with 30+ studios , Hi Sean, drawing lines between adjacent municipalities can always be a debate Id probably opt to lump Seattles east side together with Seattle, but then again I know many devs who live in Seattle and wouldnt dream of commuting over 520 every day! salary developer game survey gamecareerguide function job contractors Im from India and will be going to the US for my masters in CS. However, game artists are still paid quite well, and can make a good living for themselves and their families. Our research found that Oregon is the best state for game developers, while Oregon and Washington are ranked highest in terms of median salary. When you're looking for a job in the games industry, it's important to understand what the state of the industry looks like in any city you're targeting. professor development game salary game developer animation survey gamecareerguide average The entire planet is your game world, and its time to level up. Required fields are marked *. Why not explore? Because although there are over 2,000 game development studios around the world, not all cities are created equal. Theres no trick to it just apply at some US game companies that youre interested in, and try to get a job offer! For example, many of the studios listed in Brisbane have been closed for a while. What was the size criteria for being considered a game studio in your data? (I dont have direct experience with University of Houston.) Hi Rohit, this is an excellent question. https://gamejobhunter.com/san-francisco-bay-area-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-san-francisco-bay-area/, https://gamejobhunter.com/los-angeles-and-orange-county-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-los-angeles-area/, https://gamejobhunter.com/seattle-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-seattle, https://gamejobhunter.com/montreal-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-montreal, https://gamejobhunter.com/vancouver-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-vancouver/, https://gamejobhunter.com/austin-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-austin, https://gamejobhunter.com/toronto-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-toronto, https://gamejobhunter.com/san-diego-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-san-diego, https://gamejobhunter.com/raleigh-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-raleigh/, https://gamejobhunter.com/new-york-city-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-new-york-city, https://gamejobhunter.com/dallas-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-dallas, https://gamejobhunter.com/chicago-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-new-orleans, https://gamejobhunter.com/boston-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-boston, https://gamejobhunter.com/baltimore-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-baltimore, https://gamejobhunter.com/madison-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/video-game-companies-madison/, https://gamejobhunter.com/new-orleans-video-game-jobs/, https://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-new-orleans/, https://gamejobhunter.com/orlando-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-orlando, https://gamejobhunter.com/eugene-video-game-jobs/, https://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-eugene/, https://gamejobhunter.com/denver-and-boulder-video-game-jobs/, https://gamejobhunter.com/video-game-companies-in-denver-and-boulder/, https://gamejobhunter.com/las-vegas-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-las-vegas, https://gamejobhunter.com/miami-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-miami, https://gamejobhunter.com/washington-dc-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-washington-dc, https://gamejobhunter.com/atlanta-video-game-jobs/, http://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-atlanta/, https://gamejobhunter.com/san-francisco-bay-area-video-game-jobs/||San Francisco Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/los-angeles-and-orange-county-video-game-jobs/||LA/OC Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/seattle-video-game-jobs/||Seattle Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/montreal-video-game-jobs/||Montreal Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/vancouver-video-game-jobs/||Vancouver Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/austin-video-game-jobs/||Austin Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/toronto-video-game-jobs/||Toronto Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/san-diego-video-game-jobs/||San Diego Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/raleigh-video-game-jobs/||Raleigh Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/new-york-city-video-game-jobs/||NYC Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/dallas-video-game-jobs/||Dallas Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/chicago-video-game-jobs/||Chicago Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/boston-video-game-jobs/||Boston Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/baltimore-video-game-jobs/||Baltimore Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/madison-video-game-jobs/||Madison Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/new-orleans-video-game-jobs/||New Orleans Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/orlando-video-game-jobs/||Orlando Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/eugene-video-game-jobs/||Eugene Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/denver-and-boulder-video-game-jobs/||Denver / Boulder Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/las-vegas-video-game-jobs/||Las Vegas Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/miami-video-game-jobs/||Miami Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/washington-dc-video-game-jobs/||Washington, DC Jobs, https://gamejobhunter.com/atlanta-video-game-jobs/||Atlanta Jobs.

He told me that he wants to work at Games Industry. Earnings Disclaimer, Comic Illustrator Profile: Job Description and Salary Details. See which cities have the most job opportunities and studios. For several years, Canada has offered healthy subsidies to entice technology companies to start or relocate north of the border. That brilliant economic strategy seems to have paid off, as Canada now sits at the #3 spot among countries with the most game development studios in the world. My son is currently working on his masters in game design and development, Nice article. We are so far from them. If you are currently seeking employment as a game developer, you can find open job positions using Zippia's search tools. Are there lots of other video game companies in town if something goes wrong with your studio? . Top 5 Scholarships for Gamers (2022) and How to Apply, How To Get Into Game Development: 10 Proven Ways to Break Into the Game Industry, The Best Game Companies to Work For (2022). Hi Sarah, thats a hard question to answer, because it depends on what kind of lifestyle youre looking for. No mention of Boston which has 50+? Thank you for the awesome information. We live in England, but realistically we would like to move to the US in 3-5 years down the line to have better/bigger opportunities. Hi Satyajit, the opportunity is good, but you may need to apply only to large companies as smaller companies dont usually have the resources to sponsor visas for international students. Oregon State offers 22 studios, Illinois represents for the Midwest at 19 studios, and New York pulls weight for the East Coast with its 16 studios. This article about game designer education requirements might be helpful for you and your son as you consider a path forward. But even if the game industry is slowing down when you graduate, there will be many other programming jobs you can get in any major city in the world. People regularly take jobs in any of those three locales while living in LA. Should I move to a big city to start my career in video games? , Hi again, Samantha just FYI, I made a podcast episode about relocating to the USA for you. Is it really difficult to get H1B visa for international student? So without further delay, here is the list of best states for game developers. Bumped on your article as I was researching on places for my sons education. This article isnt meant to be a definitive list of the only places you should consider, because youre right that there are other areas that have many game studios, like Dallas/Fort Worth.

Thank you for the kind words, Im glad the article has been helpful. Hi Gaurav, anecdotally, Ive heard Japanese developers make generally less than developers in the USA. As Chris B. pointed out, while this article is great information for artists looking to move, it does misinform on Seattles bustling market by differentiating its suburbs. Wherever you happen to live right now, youll want to consider moving to a video game development hotbed. How can I move to the United States to get a job in game development? CS with a few electives in game development would be enough to get a job in the industry. I am going to be studying a BSc in Game Design at Staffordshire University this Autumn/Fall I am considering learning a second language to also help improve my job prospects. If your school doesnt have game-related electives, you could make some small game demos on your own free time and that may be enough to get your first game job. If you end up working late, the doner kebab is plentiful. You should definitely research any cities youre interested in. I worked for a game publisher in China and intend to relocate to New York. We decided to bring you a list of the best states for jobs for game developers, considering how big the profession is in the United States. Finland is rocking it! There are a number of good reasons why youd want to live and work in a game dev hotbed city: While some cities have more game jobs than others, some of those hotbed cities are concentrated in particular countries. Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Irvine are all essentially the same place. Hello. Btw it would be great if you make such a post based on different game studios around the world. Thank you for that updated info on Baltimores game industry! A very well written article, I always wanted to go to Japan and according to your article, being a game programmer I have come to an understanding that Tokyo would be the best place to go for me as I love the type of games and in India there are more mobile game development studios rather than console or pc. We live in Brazil and my son is 14 years old. There are many studios in India too. I do hope you like poutine. Hi Lou, I totally agree that you should get a job *before* moving. Thank you for the link. game cities jobs development tokyo telling career might mind once take where open there There are some specialized video games schools such as DigiPen Institute, and Full Sail. Can you suggest of any specific company or organisation in the US which could be able to advise whats our best choices to make this dream come true? Photo: Sira Anamwong / freedigitalphotos.net. Small game studios often dont have a formal internship program, but most mid- to large-size game companies will take interns (find more information in my game industry internships article). How can I get an internship at a video game development studio? It also feels like this is geared more towards large studios, as theres a lot of indie studios here too. I am based in Dubai, UAE and my son now in class 10 wants to pursue his career in game design and graphics. Its a great article Jason and Im sure really useful for those starting out in their careers. More info about cost of living. Also Cie is not a Baltimore company (nor does it seem to be doing much with games).

Hi Gordon, I dont believe theres any official size criteria the data from Gamedevmap is community-driven and crowdsourced, so some of the studios are enormous and some are small indie shops. If you want to work in the United States, the West Coast is clearly a good place to look for game jobs. Im from India and currently a student. Hi Jacque, any comprehensive list of game studios will get somewhat out of date after just a few months, its tough to keep up with all the changes. Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. HI, great articles for someone whos trying to get into the gaming world as a make a living. Gamedevmap takes submissions via Twitter @gamedevmap. There is a significant amount of data missing from gamedevmap for Baltimore; including some studios that have been around for 10+ years! Hi Fabien, thank you for linking to the Paris game studios list. If youre looking for a new job making video games, I hope youre thinking seriously about which cities around the world to include in your search. Its actually really normal to apply for jobs out of state, its generally not an issue since you can do the initial interviews via phone and/or video conference. Indeed, the Indian game industry is growing every day! But its still directionally correct, since it still puts Canada in the top 3 worldwide and Montral as the top Canadian city. Ive written more about this in my article about getting a computer science degree, please check it out. When youre evaluating a job offer in a different city, its always a good idea to use an online cost-of-living calculator to make sure youre comparing apples to apples. Thank you for that link, Reko. Game developer positions are available in every area, but not all places are the same -- they do not offer the same wages, benefits, time off, etc. Even within a single country such as the USA, different cities are considerably different in their culture, politics, and weather.

Thank you! S. Nandi. Would you recommend any my current choices are French, German or Spanish? Do You Really Need a Graphic Design Degree? The dataset you refer to is incomplete and out of date. Hey, Im Amogh and Im from India, this is an extremely cool article which helped me jot down required points and I thank you for that. Where would be the best place to start of coding games because i want to do this when i am older i am 13 and really want to make video games, so do you guys have any advice. Even the Netherlands, at #11 on the list, weighs in at a hefty 49 game studios. hi Jason Jason. Good post and thanks for sharing. In line with other comments on the cost of living, Dundee offers amazing value for money when you are starting out in your career. gaming career education game designer careers future