An amazing development is addressed by the head of the indie MMO Camelot Unchained. Due to the tech hype, salaries for programmers have risen significantly. This hits indie gaming studios the hardest.
The head of Camelot Unchained, Marc Jacobs, points out an interesting development. Jacobs has been developing a PvP MMORPG, which is meant to be the spiritual successor to Dark Age of Camelot, with a small team and a tight budget for years.
It has long been known that Camelot Unchained is struggling to find suitable staff.
Google, Facebook, and Amazon are sucking up suitable personnel
According to Jacobs, there has been a remarkable development in programmer salaries over the last three to five years. Salaries have reportedly exploded.
It is hard to believe how much the salary situation for programmers in Seattle has changed within two years. And this is not just for “top talents,” but also for less experienced programmers.
Jacobs had specifically opened an office in Seattle after he could not find a programmer for the salary he could pay in the “Tech Triangle” around Washington, DC, as MassivelyOp knows.
Jacobs blames the booming tech market for the rise in prices. Companies like Google, Facebook, or Amazon are sucking up programmers and are willing to pay salaries that are far above what is typical in the gaming industry.
Additionally, mobile developers and virtual reality companies participated as well. They are all fishing in the same pool of people. This drives salaries up.
Developers like EA must raise salaries – Indies cannot afford that
According to Jacobs, this has forced large companies like EA to offer salaries to keep up that were previously unimaginable. Publishers like EA can afford this. Small entrepreneurs like City State Entertainment, Jacobs’ company, are struggling with this.
The development therefore hits small developers and indie studios the hardest.
Jacobs emphasizes that, while it will be more difficult for indie companies to develop games, he still wishes the hard-working programmers to receive good pay – especially because the gaming industry is so tough, and people can lose their jobs without fault.
Jacobs simply wishes he had more money to pay programmers. Jacobs is proud that in the past he was criticized by investors for being too generous in sharing revenue with employees at Dark Age of Camelot and now at Camelot Unchained. He enjoys hearing the criticism.
It is to be noted that Jacobs speaks from his own experience only for certain regions in the USA.
