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The differences between game artists and game developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a game artist, becoming a game developer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a game developer has an average salary of $91,009, which is higher than the $86,932 average annual salary of a game artist.
The top three skills for a game artist include animation, maya and sketch. The most important skills for a game developer are unity, game development, and game engine.
| Game Artist | Game Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $86,932 | $91,009 |
| Hourly rate | $41.79 | $43.75 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 5,040 | 173,596 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 40 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
This individual is tasked with just one thing, and that is to create 2D or 3D art for visual elements in video games. Their task is crucial in the process of creating games. They visualize how a game will look and ensure it comes out exactly that way. They design a few preliminary sketches and develop them according to the general style of the video game. They are required to work on components like characters, textures, vehicles, colors, lighting, objects, and environment.
Game developers are professionals who are responsible for designing and producing video games for computers, mobile devices, or game consoles by taking the concept of video game designers and turning them into playable games. By using their background in software development and mathematics, game developers must work with teams to create visual content for a game and writing code to implement all the game's features and functionality. They are required to handle new game feature requests and make improvements to the game even after production. Game developers must also demonstrate their skills in artificial programming intelligence for non-player characters.
Game artists and game developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Game Artist | Game Developer | |
| Average salary | $86,932 | $91,009 |
| Salary range | Between $56,000 And $133,000 | Between $64,000 And $127,000 |
| Highest paying City | Las Vegas, NV | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Nevada | California |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Finance |
There are a few differences between a game artist and a game developer in terms of educational background:
| Game Artist | Game Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Graphic Design | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between game artists' and game developers' demographics:
| Game Artist | Game Developer | |
| Average age | 40 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 70.0% Female, 30.0% | Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 7.6% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 30.0% White, 52.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 8% |