Side-by-side distribution
Full-Stack
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 30.6%
- Live roles
- 2,765
Game Developer
$162,848
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 33%
- Live roles
- 103
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Staff Full Stack Engineer ($500k - $1.5m salary)
Senior/Staff Full Stack Engineer, Applied AI
Forward Deployed Engineer, Full-Stack
Fullstack Engineer, RL Environments
Staff Software Engineer, Fullstack
Staff Full Stack Engineer ($300k - $500k salary)
Fullstack Engineer, Assesment
Staff+ Software Engineer, Full-stack
Software Engineer, Full Stack, Tinker
Software Engineer, Full Stack
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Software Engineer, Game Safety
Principal Core Systems Software Engineer - Game Engine (C++)
Principal Software Engineer - Game Engine Systems
Senior Software Engineer, Game Engine Systems
Game Developer - AI Trainer
Indie Game Developer - AI Trainer
Senior Game Security Programmer
Software Engineer, Game Development
Software Engineer, Game Development
Systems Software Engineer - Game Engine Network (C++)
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
OpenAI
|
$307,500 | 17 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$157,275 | 14 |
| TP Third-Party Job Posts | $155,000 | 14 |
Databricks
|
$208,913 | 10 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$222,000 | 9 |
Silver.dev
|
$96,000 | 7 |
| GR GRVTY | $200,000 | 6 |
Benchling
|
$189,028 | 6 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Roblox
|
$267,950 | 7 |
2K
|
$119,530 | 6 |
Applied Intuition
|
$170,000 | 3 |
|
Handshake
|
$260,000 | 2 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$209,500 | 2 |
|
Epic Games
|
$186,868 | 2 |
Striking Distance Studios
|
$166,000 | 2 |
teamLFG
|
$200,000 | 1 |
Full-Stack salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $210,000 | 174 |
| Seattle | $210,000 | 36 |
| New York | $203,500 | 181 |
| Austin | $180,900 | 12 |
| Denver | $176,900 | 3 |
| Boston | $173,475 | 32 |
| Los Angeles | $168,450 | 20 |
| Chicago | $165,000 | 19 |
| Atlanta | $152,500 | 7 |
| London | $129,451 | 18 |
Full-Stack vs Game Developer: which pays more?
The median for Full-Stack is $175,000 per year (typically $140,000–$210,000), versus $162,848 for Game Developer ($131,155–$218,940). That puts Full-Stack about 7% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Full-Stack and Game Developer are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.