Side-by-side distribution
Game Developer
$140,510
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 21%
- Live roles
- 105
Software Engineer
$191,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 44.2%
- Live roles
- 15,578
Highest-paying jobs
Principal Software Engineer, Game Safety
Senior Software Engineer - Game Engine Systems (C++)
Senior Software Engineer, Game Engine Systems
Senior Game Security Programmer
AI Game Developer (Designer, Artist, Or Engineer)
Software Engineer - Game Development
Game Security Software Engineer
Mobile Game Security Software Engineer
Senior Game Security Programmer
Senior Gameplay Software Engineer (UE5)
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Software Engineer, ML Networking
Lead Software Engineer
Senior Software Engineer
Staff Software Engineer, Kubernetes Platform
Staff Software Engineer, Node Infra
Staff Software Engineer, Code RL
Staff+ Software Engineer, Developer Productivity
Staff Software Engineer, Claude Code
Staff Software Engineer, Environments Infrastructure
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
2K
|
$119,530 | 6 |
|
Roblox
|
$269,270 | 3 |
|
Epic Games
|
$187,474 | 2 |
| KA KRAFTON Americas | $173,000 | 2 |
|
Applied Intuition
|
$166,581 | 2 |
Zynga
|
$122,790 | 2 |
|
Scopely
|
$211,300 | 1 |
|
Skyboxlabs
|
$147,500 | 1 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Anduril Industries
|
$221,000 | 292 |
OpenAI
|
$355,500 | 142 |
SpaceX
|
$142,500 | 124 |
Speechify
|
$170,000 | 102 |
Elastic
|
$109,437 | 100 |
|
Roblox
|
$267,950 | 99 |
Palantir
|
$167,500 | 98 |
Databricks
|
$214,700 | 95 |
Software Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney | $431,406 | 5 |
| San Francisco | $226,350 | 1,441 |
| New York | $215,000 | 1,239 |
| Seattle | $210,000 | 381 |
| London | $205,314 | 117 |
| Austin | $187,500 | 108 |
| Boston | $187,250 | 190 |
| Los Angeles | $183,150 | 166 |
| Denver | $177,500 | 103 |
| Atlanta | $175,000 | 65 |
Game Developer vs Software Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Game Developer is $140,510 per year (typically $109,593–$195,622), versus $191,500 for Software Engineer ($150,000–$226,000). That puts Software Engineer about 36% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Game Developer and Software Engineer 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.