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Senior game designer salary

Quoted expert
Abby Guido

Average senior game designer salary

$102,838

$49.44 hourly rate

Entry-level senior game designer salary
$67,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

Average Senior Game Designer Salary

The average salary for a Senior Game Designer in the United States is approximately $102,838 per year, or about $49 per hour. This figure reflects a competitive compensation package for individuals with extensive experience in the gaming industry.

Salary Variations by State

Location significantly impacts earnings. For instance, states like California and Washington often offer higher salaries, attributable to the concentration of gaming companies and the cost of living.

Experience Matters

As with many professions, experience influences salary. Senior Game Designers with several years in the field can expect to earn more as they advance their careers.

Industries and Opportunities

Besides traditional gaming companies, opportunities exist in sectors such as education and healthcare, which increasingly utilize game design for training and engagement purposes. This diversification can lead to varied salary ranges and job satisfaction.

Understanding these factors can help aspiring game designers gauge their potential earnings and make informed career decisions.

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Where can a Senior Game Designer earn more?

Compare salary by location
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Columbus, OH$119,158
Urban Honolulu, HI$71,950
Compare salary by company
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Meta$149,692
Zynga$101,616

Senior game designer salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Glassdoor and Payscale, the average salary for a senior game designer typically falls between $88,424 and $147,625.
zippia
$102,838yearly
glassdoor[1]
$147,625yearly
Salary.com[2]
$103,943yearly
payscale[3]
$88,424yearly

Average senior game designer salary by state

The highest-paying states for senior game designers are Nevada, Delaware, and Rhode Island. The lowest average senior game designer salary states are Georgia, Minnesota, and Wyoming.

  • State view
  • County view
Average salary:

Highest paying states for senior game designers

RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
1Washington$110,614$53.18
2Rhode Island$113,649$54.64
3District of Columbia$115,719$55.63
4Nevada$119,880$57.63
5Wisconsin$106,169$51.04
6Delaware$116,130$55.83
7Utah$99,780$47.97
8Maine$103,385$49.70
9Idaho$107,236$51.56
10Ohio$101,759$48.92
11Connecticut$103,792$49.90
12Indiana$105,928$50.93
13California$105,022$50.49
14Massachusetts$101,048$48.58
15Maryland$104,503$50.24
16New Hampshire$98,790$47.50
17New York$99,012$47.60
18West Virginia$102,502$49.28
19Michigan$92,249$44.35
20Louisiana$100,976$48.55
21Texas$92,206$44.33
22South Carolina$95,352$45.84
23Alaska$103,255$49.64
24New Mexico$94,260$45.32
25Vermont$95,350$45.84
26Mississippi$97,362$46.81
27Kentucky$94,425$45.40
28Colorado$92,636$44.54
29Oregon$89,700$43.13
30Pennsylvania$87,944$42.28
31Virginia$87,309$41.98
32Montana$89,975$43.26
33North Dakota$89,008$42.79
34Missouri$88,519$42.56
35Arizona$86,843$41.75
36North Carolina$83,884$40.33
37Nebraska$87,440$42.04
38South Dakota$86,724$41.69
39New Jersey$88,276$42.44
40Georgia$78,534$37.76
41Illinois$81,570$39.22
42Tennessee$83,023$39.91
43Florida$82,610$39.72
44Arkansas$83,691$40.24
45Minnesota$77,997$37.50
46Oklahoma$79,742$38.34
47Alabama$79,489$38.22
48Kansas$74,448$35.79
49Iowa$75,736$36.41
50Wyoming$76,098$36.59
51Hawaii$71,754$34.50

Highest paying cities for senior game designers

The highest-paying cities for senior game designers are Las Vegas, NV, Washington, DC, and Vancouver, WA.

RankCityAvg. salaryHourly rate
1Las Vegas, NV$119,158$57.29
2Washington, DC$115,931$55.74
3Vancouver, WA$114,201$54.90
4San Francisco, CA$109,821$52.80
5Boston, MA$100,961$48.54
6New York, NY$99,357$47.77
7Detroit, MI$92,558$44.50
8Dallas, TX$92,549$44.49
9Tampa, FL$83,632$40.21
10Chicago, IL$82,258$39.55
11Atlanta, GA$78,019$37.51
12Urban Honolulu, HI$71,950$34.59

Senior game designer salary details

A senior game designer's salary ranges from $67,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $155,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average senior game designer salary graph
Average senior game designer salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a senior game designer's salary?

PercentileAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rate
90th Percentile$155,000$12,917$75
75th Percentile$127,000$10,583$61
Average$102,838$8,570$49
25th Percentile$82,000$6,833$39
10th Percentile$67,000$5,583$32

Highest paying senior game designer jobs

The highest paying types of senior game designers are lead designer, lead game designer, and video game designer.

Job titleAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rateJob openings
Designer$66,347$5,529$31.9052,433
Lead Designer$110,001$9,167$52.8945,423
Game Designer$87,645$7,304$42.1445,227

How would you rate the starting salaries for senior game designers, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Designers can be well-compensated for their work. Some design areas are more lucrative than others, which tend to be the jobs in digital design. These jobs include user-experience design, experiential design, interactive design, motion design, and all AR and VR design positions.

Top companies hiring senior game designers now:

  1. Meta jobs (3)
  2. Microsoft jobs (9)
  3. The Walt Disney Company jobs (4)
  4. Scientific Games jobs (3)
  5. Jam City jobs (3)

Which companies pay senior game designers the most?

Senior game designer salaries at Meta and McKinsey & Company Inc are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average senior game designer salary at companies like Microsoft and Netflix are highly competitive.

RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rate
1Meta$149,692$71.97
2McKinsey & Company Inc$148,415$71.35
3Microsoft$130,472$62.73
4Netflix$129,845$62.43
5The Walt Disney Company$119,666$57.53
6Daybreak Game$106,855$51.37
7Bungie$105,999$50.96
8Jam City$104,516$50.25
9Electronic Arts$104,403$50.19
10Motion Recruitment$104,176$50.08
11IMVU$103,636$49.83
12Glu Mobile$103,524$49.77
13GSN Games$103,387$49.71
14Amazon$103,133$49.58
15Aristocrat Technologies, Inc.$102,970$49.50
16Cloud Imperium Games$102,265$49.17
17ProbablyMonsters$101,882$48.98
18Mythical Store$101,845$48.96
19PlayStation$101,826$48.95
20Zynga$101,616$48.85

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$103,000$101,600$100,200$98,800$97,400$96,000
MaleFemale

Senior Game Designer salary by industry

The average senior game designer salary varies across industries:

  • The average senior game designer salary in the hospitality industry is $115,013, the highest of any industry.
  • The average senior game designer salary in the finance industry is $104,399.
  • Senior game designers in the manufacturing industry earn an average salary of $96,869, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for senior game designers

RankIndustryAverage salaryHourly rate
1Hospitality$115,013$55.29
2Professional$104,399$50.19
3Technology$103,570$49.79
4Media$96,872$46.57
5Manufacturing$96,869$46.57

High paying senior game designer jobs

Senior game designer salary trends

The average senior game designer salary has risen by $16,834 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average senior game designer earned $86,004 annually, but today, they earn $102,838 a year. That works out to a 10% change in pay for senior game designers over the last decade.

Compare senior game designer salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average senior game designer salary over time

Compare senior game designer salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Senior game designer salary by year

YearAvg. salaryHourly rate% Change
2025$103,000$49.44+3.3%
2024$99,400$47.81+2.3%
2023$97,200$46.73+1.9%
2022$95,300$45.82+2.3%
2021$93,100$44.78+1.5%

Recently added senior game designer salaries

CompanyJobLocationDate addedSalary
Disney ExperiencesSR. Game Designer-Lucasfilm GamesSan Francisco, CA06/30/2025$113,400
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.Senior Game Designer, Systems-World of Warcraft |Irvine, CA06/27/2025$80,800
Microsoft CorporationSenior Game Designer-Gaming AIRedmond, WA06/24/2025$131,400
Industrial Light & MagicSR. Game Designer-Lucasfilm GamesSan Francisco, CA06/20/2025$113,400
Walt Disney CoSR. Game Designer-Lucasfilm GamesSan Francisco, CA06/14/2025$113,400
Amazon.com, Inc.Senior Game Designer, Amazon GamesSeattle, WA06/11/2025$101,500
MetaSenior Boss Encounter Designer-Sanzaru Game StudioIndianapolis, IN06/11/2025$137,000
MetaSenior Boss Encounter Designer-Sanzaru Game StudioOlympia, WA06/11/2025$137,000
MetaSenior Boss Encounter Designer-Sanzaru Game StudioLittle Rock, AR06/11/2025$137,000
MetaSenior Boss Encounter Designer-Sanzaru Game StudioLincoln, NE06/11/2025$137,000

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