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The differences between game developers and data scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a game developer and a data scientist. Additionally, a data scientist has an average salary of $106,104, which is higher than the $91,009 average annual salary of a game developer.
The top three skills for a game developer include unity, game development and game engine. The most important skills for a data scientist are python, data science, and visualization.
| Game Developer | Data Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $91,009 | $106,104 |
| Hourly rate | $43.75 | $51.01 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 173,596 | 106,973 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Average age | 39 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
A Data Scientist analyzes information from multiple sources in order to gain maximum insight that can give the company a competitive advantage. They work in different domains, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, and finance.
Game developers and data scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Game Developer | Data Scientist | |
| Average salary | $91,009 | $106,104 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $127,000 | Between $75,000 And $148,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a game developer and a data scientist in terms of educational background:
| Game Developer | Data Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 51% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Columbia University in the City of New York |
Here are the differences between game developers' and data scientists' demographics:
| Game Developer | Data Scientist | |
| Average age | 39 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3% | Male, 79.6% Female, 20.4% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 18.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 9% |