Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between game developers and software engineers 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 software engineer. Additionally, a software engineer has an average salary of $100,260, 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 software engineer are java, python, and software development.
| Game Developer | Software Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,009 | $100,260 |
| Hourly rate | $43.75 | $48.20 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 173,596 | 339,938 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 3.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| 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 software engineer is a computer science professional who is responsible for the development of information systems, designing and building computer systems software and applications software. They often prefer to call themselves as a software developer or computer programmer. They have substantial knowledge of programming languages, software development, and computer operating systems, and other technologies. They use these to turn a plan into a final output. They can create a design, test, and develop software based on the needs of their clients.
Game developers and software engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Game Developer | Software Engineer | |
| Average salary | $91,009 | $100,260 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $127,000 | Between $73,000 And $136,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Bruno, 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 software engineer in terms of educational background:
| Game Developer | Software Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between game developers' and software engineers' demographics:
| Game Developer | Software Engineer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.7% Female, 12.3% | Male, 78.0% Female, 22.0% |
| 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, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 34.0% White, 48.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |