Best Cities for Video Game Development Jobs
If you’re looking for a new job making video games, I hope you’re thinking seriously about which cities around the world to include in your search.
Why? Because although there are over 9,000 game development studios around the world, not all cities are created equal. Some stand clearly apart from the rest when it comes to game development. They’re known as “game development hotbeds” because they contain more game dev studios – and more game jobs – than any others.
Wherever you happen to live right now, you’ll want to consider moving to a video game development hotbed. In fact, the city where you find your next job might be the most important decision you make in your entire career. Here’s why.
Data sources: To assemble these charts, I collated, cleaned, and graphed raw data from the crowd-sourced database at GameDevMap.com.
Why move to a game development hotbed?
Why move to a rain-soaked city like Seattle, Washington, when you could work at a game dev studio in a sunny beach town like Tampa, Florida?
The answer is, because Tampa is home to just 9 game studios, while Seattle is bursting at the seams with over 150 game studios. (Seattle is also brimming with hundreds of delicious teriyaki chicken shops, but that’s beside the point.)
There are a number of good reasons why you’d want to live and work in a game dev hotbed city:
- Career security. Notice that I didn’t say job security. The video game industry can be volatile, and layoffs at any game studio could happen without notice, as we saw first-hand in 2023-24. So job security isn’t always high. But when you live in a city that has a dozen or more other game studios, it’s faster and easier to get a new job if you do get laid off. Developers in hotbed cities often get hired at new jobs relatively quickly after a layoff, sometimes without even having to apply. Now that’s career security.
- Concentration of talent. Because hotbed cities have a lot of game jobs, they attract thousands of highly talented developers. What does that mean for you? It means that, especially if you’re new to the industry, you’ll get to work with – and learn from – some of the most talented developers in the world.
- Size fuels growth. When a group of people start thinking about where to open a new game studio, one of their top considerations is the ability to easily find experienced and talented people to hire. Game dev hotbeds have more developers than anywhere else, so it’s common for new dev studios to be started in a hotbed city. That means more job opportunities for you.
- Networking opportunities. Living and working in a hotbed unlocks a whole new world of career networking opportunities. They often host game industry events and meetups, where you can connect with other developers and potential employers. It’s a great way to find new opportunities, collaborations, and even job offers that you might not have access to otherwise.
- Creative synergy. When you’re surrounded by like-minded professionals, the chances of finding inspiration and stimulating discussions are much higher. Game dev hotbeds are melting pots of creativity. Ideas and concepts are shared, and diverse perspectives help push the boundaries of the industry. Creative synergy isn’t just fun, it can also amp your skills and personal growth in a big way.
Top countries in the world for game development jobs
While some cities have more game jobs than others, some of those hotbed cities are concentrated in particular countries. Here’s a chart showing some of the top countries for game development studios in the world.
You can see that while the top game development country by far is the United States, the countries of England, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan are also chock full of game development companies. Even the Australia, at #11 on the list, weighs in at a hefty 198 game studios.
Most of the top game dev countries are in North America and Europe, so it looks to be worth considering a move if you’re outside of those regions if you want to be in a hotbed. Let’s take a look at the top game dev cities in the top game dev countries in the world.
Top game development cities in the United States
If you want to work in the United States, the West Coast is clearly a good place to look for game jobs. California alone offers nearly 500 game studios, and if you combine Seattle and its suburb of Bellevue, then Washington State comes in at 188 hotbed studios, rivaling the entire state of Texas (apparently, Austin really is keeping Texas weird.) Oregon State offers 50 studios, Illinois represents for the Midwest at 66 studios, and New York pulls weight for the East Coast with its 191 studios.
Top game development cities in England
As with many things English, it’s impossible to overlook the power of London, which is England’s mega-hotbed with 273 game development studios. But from there, the island is your oyster with choices from Liverpool or Manchester further north, to Brighton on the southern coast. Why not explore? If you end up working late, the doner kebab is plentiful.
Top game development cities in Canada
For several years, Canada has offered healthy subsidies to entice technology companies to start or relocate “north of the border.” That brilliant economic strategy seems to have paid off, as Canada now sits at the #3 spot among countries with the most game development studios in the world. From Montreal and Quebec City in the east, all the way to Vancouver lying 5,000 kilometers to the west, Canada offers over 500 video game studios located in hotbed cities. I do hope you like poutine.
Top game development cities in the World
The US, England and Canada have a lot to offer you for game jobs. But those are just the top countries for game dev studios – if we break things down purely by city instead of grouping by country, we find a large number of impressive game dev hotbed cities located all around the world.
In the past decade, London has taken the top spot, edging out Tokyo. London is home to major game studios and publishers from well-known companies like Capcom, Activition, Epic, to dozens of smaller independent studios from shore to shore.
But Tokyo, long a major player in the game industry, is still a heavyweight with over 200 game developer and publisher locations including the likes of Bandai Namco, Konami, Hudson Soft, and Square Enix. Not to mention you’re only a few train stops away from Harajuku, where you’re welcome to rock your favorite video game cosplay 24/7.
If mainland Europe is more your speed, you have plentiful options: Paris, Stockholm, Warsaw, Berlin, and Barcelona have grown their game development scene considerably, ranking them in the top 20 internationally. While Tokyo still dominates eastern Asia, Shanghai and Singapore have been racing up the charts. With game studios already numbering in the 80s, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them rising even higher in the coming years.Â
You’ve got choices!
While they didn’t make the pie chart, you have even more hotbed options like Helsinki, Kyiv, Hamburg, Copenhagen, and Sao Paulo just barely missing the list. So there’s no excuse not to explore the world while still pursuing your game dev career in one of the best ways possible: by relocating to a game development hotbed.
The entire planet is your game world, and it’s time to level up.
List of top game development cities with over 10 studios
Since there are too many video game hotbed cities to fit in a cute little donut chart, here’s a table listing all the cities that are home to 10 or more game developer or game developer/publishing companies.
| City | Studios/Publishers |
| London | 280 |
| Tokyo | 243 |
| Los Angeles | 241 |
| San Francisco | 191 |
| Montreal | 160 |
| Toronto | 154 |
| Seattle | 154 |
| Paris | 143 |
| Austin | 135 |
| New York City | 120 |
| Stockholm | 118 |
| Vancouver | 114 |
| Warsaw | 108 |
| Seoul | 97 |
| Berlin | 87 |
| Shanghai | 83 |
| Melbourne | 83 |
| Barcelona | 81 |
| Singapore | 80 |
| Remote | 75 |
| Helsinki | 70 |
| Kyiv | 62 |
| Hamburg | 59 |
| Copenhagen | 59 |
| Sao Paulo | 58 |
| Moscow | 55 |
| Madrid | 51 |
| Istanbul | 51 |
| Chicago | 50 |
| Beijing | 49 |
| Edmonton | 46 |
| Boston | 46 |
| Amsterdam | 46 |
| San Diego | 44 |
| Munich | 44 |
| Brighton | 43 |
| Taipei | 41 |
| Guildford | 41 |
| Dublin | 40 |
| Milan | 39 |
| Hong Kong | 36 |
| Krakow | 36 |
| Irvine | 36 |
| Santa Monica | 35 |
| Dundee | 35 |
| Bellevue | 34 |
| Buenos Aires | 33 |
| Bucharest | 33 |
| Brisbane | 33 |
| Bengaluru | 33 |
| Portland | 32 |
| Quebec City | 31 |
| Philadelphia | 31 |
| Orlando | 31 |
| Dallas | 31 |
| Brooklyn | 31 |
| Auckland | 31 |
| Zurich | 30 |
| Gothenburg | 30 |
| Sydney | 29 |
| Utrecht | 29 |
| San Mateo | 29 |
| Osaka | 29 |
| Montpellier | 29 |
| Lisbon | 29 |
| Tel Aviv | 28 |
| Prague | 28 |
| Lyon | 28 |
| Dubai | 28 |
| Calgary | 28 |
| Manchester | 27 |
| Mexico City | 27 |
| Las Vegas | 27 |
| Bordeaux | 27 |
| Bristol | 26 |
| Atlanta | 26 |
| Leamington Spa | 25 |
| Limassol | 25 |
| Cambridge | 25 |
| Liverpool | 24 |
| Edinburgh | 24 |
| Cologne | 24 |
| Saint Petersburg | 23 |
| Mumbai | 23 |
| Malmo | 23 |
| Brno | 23 |
| Victoria | 22 |
| Tehran | 22 |
| Seongnam-si | 22 |
| Miami | 22 |
| Belfast | 22 |
| Skoevde | 21 |
| Vienna | 20 |
| Vilnius | 20 |
| Madison | 20 |
| Raleigh | 19 |
| Rome | 19 |
| Redmond | 19 |
| Palo Alto | 19 |
| Halifax | 19 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 19 |
| Jakarta | 19 |
| Kyoto | 19 |
| Bangkok | 19 |
| San Jose | 18 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 18 |
| Rio de Janeiro | 17 |
| Sofia | 17 |
| Hyderabad | 17 |
| Culver City | 17 |
| Guadalajara | 17 |
| Belgrade | 17 |
| Wroclaw | 16 |
| Valencia | 16 |
| Pittsburgh | 16 |
| Phoenix | 16 |
| Ottawa | 16 |
| Minneapolis | 16 |
| Washington DC | 15 |
| Wellington | 15 |
| Santiago | 15 |
| Minsk | 15 |
| Nicosia | 15 |
| Lagos | 15 |
| Glasgow | 15 |
| Athens | 15 |
| Tampere | 14 |
| Tallinn | 14 |
| Oslo | 14 |
| Nashville | 14 |
| Kaliningrad | 14 |
| Kirkland | 14 |
| Budapest | 14 |
| Amman | 14 |
| Sheffield | 13 |
| Leeds | 13 |
| Adelaide | 13 |
| Bratislava | 13 |
| Yokohama | 12 |
| Zagreb | 12 |
| Rotterdam | 12 |
| Riga | 12 |
| Pune | 12 |
| Pasadena | 12 |
| Oakland | 12 |
| Mountain View | 12 |
| Houston | 12 |
| Ghent | 12 |
| Groningen | 12 |
| El Segundo | 12 |
| Cape Town | 12 |
| Riyadh | 11 |
| Redwood City | 11 |
| Manila | 11 |
| Nantes | 11 |
| New Delhi | 11 |
| Kosice | 11 |
| Kharkiv | 11 |
| Denver | 11 |
| Chengdu | 11 |
| Cardiff | 11 |
| Ann Arbor | 11 |
| Ankara | 11 |
| Carlsbad | 11 |
| Boulder | 11 |
| Winnipeg | 10 |
| Venice | 10 |
| Shenzhen | 10 |
| Saskatoon | 10 |
| Reykjavik | 10 |
| Salt Lake City | 10 |
| Novato | 10 |
| Hamilton | 10 |
| Johannesburg | 10 |
| Ho Chi Minh City | 10 |
| Katowice | 10 |
| Bandung | 10 |
| Baltimore | 10 |
Photo: Sira Anamwong / freedigitalphotos.net
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Thanks a lot for this amazing article.. It’s great to see the list of studios country wise and city wise. I’m from India and currently a student. I’ll probably move to U.S after working for 3-4 years in India, since most of the top studios requires experience. keep posting such great articles.
Btw it would be great if you make such a post based on different game studios around the world. Thanks.
Thank you for the kind words, I’m glad the article has been helpful. And thank you for the suggestion for a new article!
Jason,
We live in Brazil and my son is 14 years old. He told me that he wants to work at Games Industry. Do you know how can he study in USA to develop his future career in this area? Regards.
There are some specialized video games schools such as DigiPen Institute, and Full Sail. But there are also many other colleges and universities in the US that offer game-related degrees, or a non-game degree with a video game focus, which would also be good. There’s a partial list at the video game schools article.
Cities on the West Coast are incredibly expensive to live in, as is New York. London, too, for that matter. It’s very difficult to move to any of those cities if you aren’t wealthy or don’t know anyone there to help you out.
You’re right that the cost of living can be much higher on the coasts. When you’re evaluating a job offer in a different city, it’s always a good idea to use an online cost-of-living calculator to make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. (I like the one at Payscale.com)
Stop moving for game jobs people! Game companies are all set up in incredibly EXPENSIVE areas on purpose! You are less likely to advocate for unionization/change if you are constantly kept in a position where losing your job can put you in danger of being homeless! They are keeping us in a state of precarity by forcing us to live in expensive cities so that we are more worried about not getting blacklisted from the industry and becoming homeless than we are abput being treated like human beings.
Take away their power… ONLY WORK REMOTELY! Game jobs can all be done remotely. So only do that. Then when people are able to live whereever they want and aren’t forced to “live where the jobs are”… we can actually start saving up money and maybe start organizing for better rights. Don’t move to these cities to get a job! It makes life harder for everyone in the industry!
Hi Raja – many game companies are located in large cities because they offer a higher concentration of talented game developers to be hired. Remote work has become more common over the past few years, and it does offer a degree of flexibility that employees enjoy. I expect some companies to go back to “on site” requirements eventually, but certainly many studios will continue allowing partially or fully remote employees.
Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Irvine are all essentially the same place. People regularly take jobs in any of those three locales while living in “LA”.
That’s true, some of the areas in this list are overly-granular (and LA is huge!). Thanks for pointing that out.
What was the size criteria for being considered a game studio in your data? Great topic btw!
Hi Gordon, I don’t believe there’s any “official” size criteria – the data from Gamedevmap is community-driven and crowdsourced, so some of the studios are enormous and some are small indie shops. Thank you for the kind words!
There’s like 70 or so studios alone in Helsinki…
http://www.neogames.fi/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Neogames_report2015_full.pdf
Thank you for that link, Reko. Finland is rocking it!
The dataset you refer to is incomplete and out of date. For example, many of the studios listed in Brisbane have been closed for a while.
It would be great to have a bird’s eye view of the industry, but I’m not sure where you would source reliable data on it from.
Hi Giselle, game studios are maddeningly difficult to track because they can come and go so frequently. The raw data was sourced by GameDevMap.com – they seem to work hard to collect it and keep it up to date, but it can be hard to keep up with all the changes.
Fascinating, thanks for this article.
Can you provide a sense of the number of actual development jobs within each country and/or city? Even if only approximate, knowing whether a city had 100 studios each with only 5 employees, versus a city with only 10 studios each with 1500 employees; could give a very different answer to “best cities for video game development jobs”. That said I do understand the merits of having a large number of studios within one city. Any data you have would be hugely welcome.
That would definitely be helpful data, I’ll see if I can find some sources. Thank you for the suggestion, Richard.
As Chris B. pointed out, while this article is great information for artists looking to move, it does misinform on Seattle’s bustling market by differentiating its suburbs. Redmond, Bellevue and Kirkland are all part of Seattle’s suburbs, and are only separated by about 12 miles of driving. It also feels like this is geared more towards large studios, as there’s a lot of indie studios here too.
http://www.gamedevmap.com/index.php?location=Seattle
There’s closer to 100 game companies here people can work at in our industry, and this doesn’t even include the ones that haven’t registered with Gamedevmap. Fwiw, I moved to Seattle from Nashville to work in the game industry. It’s a fantastic city, and one of the least expensive on the list for locations with 30+ studios đŸ˜‰
Hi Sean, drawing lines between adjacent municipalities can always be a debate – I’d probably opt to lump Seattle’s east side together with Seattle, but then again I know many devs who live in Seattle and wouldn’t dream of commuting over 520 every day! :/
There is a significant amount of data missing from gamedevmap for Baltimore; including some studios that have been around for 10+ years!
Studios not on that list: Amtote, Firaxis Games (2k), Zenimax (Bethesda), Breakaway Games, Oxcide (Stardock), Big Huge Games, Sparkypants, Unit-E, and a handful of small (1-3 person) indie studios.
Also Cie is not a Baltimore company (nor does it seem to be doing much with games). I wonder how accurate this data set is for other cities.
Hi Tronster, the data from Gamedevmap is generally up-to-date, but it is a community-driven crowdsourced data set so there are bound to be gaps. Thank you for that updated info on Baltimore’s game industry!
…woops, forgot: Wargaming has a studio in Baltimore too (formally Day 1 Studios).
It’s a great article Jason and I’m sure really useful for those starting out in their careers. It’s disappointing though that you focused on England studios in your breakdown when Scotland as part of the UK has such a significant amount of game development happening. Specifically in Dundee at the last count there were over 40 studios http://scottishgames.net/companydirectory/
This stretches from 1 to 2 man studios up to high growth studios like Outplay with over 80 developers.
In line with other comments on the cost of living, Dundee offers amazing value for money when you are starting out in your career. It is also a buzzing game hub with tech meet up’s and a close knit development community which can be invaluable at this stage in your career.
Thank you for the helpful info about Scotland, and for the company directory link. Scotland’s booming game industry is not to be overlooked.
Good post and thanks for sharing. There are many studios in India too. They don’t come forward because they do outsourcing for the major reputed companies over the globe. đŸ™‚
Indeed, the Indian game industry is growing every day!
GameDevMap is insanely outdated.
This is a bit of a closer view of the game developers in Montreal (although I see outsourcing houses, and defunct companies listed):
http://www.mtlgs.ca/studios/
According to that list there are 156 Developers in Montreal alone. But included are ones with 2 guys in a basement making games.
Hi Jacque, any “comprehensive” list of game studios will get somewhat out of date after just a few months, it’s tough to keep up with all the changes. Thank you for the link to the Canadian studios, that’s really helpful.
Hi, my husband is currently studying to become an Art and Animator in the gaming industry. We live in England, but realistically we would like to move to the US in 3-5 years down the line to have better/bigger opportunities. We have already started to plan this journey, but we are unsure what steps to take first…
Can you suggest of any specific company or organisation in the US which could be able to advise what’s our best choices to make this dream come true?
P.S. Great info, super interesting đŸ™‚
Kind regards,
S. Brown
Hi Samantha, I know quite a lot of devs that moved from the UK to the US. There’s no trick to it – just apply at some US game companies that you’re interested in, and try to get a job offer! One tip, the larger studios/publishers are more likely to have the right HR systems in place to handle petition/permit, so it might be easier to start with the bigger shops first. Best of luck – see you soon! đŸ™‚
Hi again, Samantha – just FYI, I made a podcast episode about relocating to the USA for you. đŸ™‚
You didn’t do your homework where’s the Phillipines? One of the oldest long standing capitols of animation. The government has funded schools and cyber centers. 65 colleges and universities have animation classes and there are dozens of studios there.
Hi Jeff, it’s great to hear that the Philippines has so many game-related schools and game studios. As mentioned in the footnote, I used crowdsourced data from GameDevMap.com. We rely on everybody to build out that database, so if you have a little time, you could really help the community by adding the Philippines game studios to the data set at GameDevMap.com and it will show up next time I update this article. Thank you!
I think this is beter data source:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_game_companies_by_country
It doesn’t look like either data source is comprehensive and up-to-date (it’s a tough industry to keep up with!), but definitely lots of good info there. Thank you for the link.
No mention of Boston which has 50+? I don’t see a place on gamedevmap.com to contribute.
http://www.bostonpostmortem.org/boston-area-game-companies/
Thanks for the link, Jeff, looks like a nice resource for Boston devs. Gamedevmap takes submissions via Twitter @gamedevmap.
This is a really cool article. However, it can be misleading since there can be game studios in different cities but in the same metropolitan area. The Dallas/Fort Worth area has at least 30 game studios on gamedevmap, for example, but Dallas not on a list in this article. So it still may be viable to move to a different city that is not a hotbed if you do not mind commuting to the city over where the game studio is. Those are just my 2 cents to add to help đŸ™‚
Hi Kevin, thanks for your comment. It’s always a grey area when you start breaking data down by “city” because it can look different depending on whether you’re including just the official city limits, or the “greater metropolitan area,” whether or not suburbs are included, etc. This article isn’t meant to be a definitive list of “the only places you should consider,” because you’re right that there are other areas that have many game studios, like Dallas/Fort Worth.
hello,
i am precisely reading all your posts a d let me tell you they are awesome, i have a request for you. hope you pay your attention towards this, As i am from india. can you just help out in this country by your stats and job locations and all.
please its a kinds request
best regards,
lokesh
Hi Lokesh, I don’t have a good source for that sort of information for India, but if I find one then I’ll add it to this article because there are many game developers growing in India. Thank you for your comment!
Hey, I’m Amogh and I’m from India, this is an extremely cool article which helped me jot down required points and I thank you for that. But I couldn’t find information for training in these countries. Are there any training colleges in U.S.?
Hi Amogh, yes, there are a number of game development schools and colleges in the U.S. Look here to search for game schools, or here for a list of game dev programs at traditional colleges and universities.
Nice article. I’m from India and will be going to the US for my master’s in CS. Would you mind telling me which video game companies offer internships to international students? I am not sure if all companies are ok with offering internships to international students.
How viable is it to take up CS with a few electives related to game design and development to get into the gaming industry?
I consider California to be kinda expensive. How viable is Texas?
Small game studios often don’t have a formal internship program, but most mid- to large-size game companies will take interns (find more information in my game industry internships article). Since you’ll be an international student, there may be some additional rules and paperwork that smaller studios are not equipped to handle, so again, I think larger companies will be better for you to pursue.
CS with a few electives in game development would be enough to get a job in the industry. If your school doesn’t have game-related electives, you could make some small game demos on your own free time and that may be enough to get your first game job. Focus on making a good programming portfolio to show employers. More info about game programming portfolios.
California is expensive, but they pay a bit more and there are more game studios than Texas, so it may be easier to find a job. More info about cost of living.
What are the electives to take up? Artificial intelligence and Computer graphics are what I can think of. How good is University of Houston Victoria?
I plan to STUDY in Texas and maybe do a CPT (curricular practical training) in Texas and maybe move to California for a job after completing the CS degree.
(I don’t have direct experience with University of Houston.) Computer Graphics and AI would both be good courses, also real-time/interactive systems, performance optimization, 3D math, and network programming would all be applicable.
Bumped on your article as I was researching on places for my son’s education. Thank you for the detailed info and this could help me plan my son’s career in game designing. I am based in Dubai, UAE and my son now in class 10 wants to pursue his career in game design and graphics. Which university you would recommend in this case and the program that could benefit his career. Since this is for an international student, we are looking for a good economical college and that which is friendly to international students too.
Appreciate your suggestions
Hi Girish, I can’t recommend one school over another, but keep in mind that there are multiple paths to game design. This article about game designer education requirements might be helpful for you and your son as you consider a path forward.
Girish, you can try fiea, university of Utah, rit, smu and so many more in the US. Look for Forbes game design and development school. Then you can choose which school would best suit your son’s interest based on his interest to go for programming, arts, production etc. My son is currently working on his masters in game design and development
Nice article.
There are however some missing studio in the listing for Paris. According to the AFJV (French Agency for Video Games) 89 studios on Paris (Source: http://www.afjv.com/annuaire_studio.php?d=75 )
Hi Fabien, thank you for linking to the Paris game studios list. This article pulled data from gamedevmap.com, which is a crowdsourced database, so it may be missing some data or may not be up to date for every city. I’ll be pulling fresh data to update this article soon. Thanks again!
Thank you for the awesome information. I was trying to figure out all the best places to market my podcast through Facebooks ads so thank you. It’s great to see that Austin is still one of the top city. I plan to move there soon once I find a job. I’m extremely determined.
Hi Tony, glad the article was helpful. By the way, I subscribed to your Game Dev Loadout podcast — good stuff, I’m looking forward to listing to the other episodes.
Hi jason.
It’s amazing article i read all comments also.
I am working Indian gaming industry. But i am not satisfied with . What they are paying a artist.
Artists also working on chip price. I compared with others stream like: software developers or designers. We are so far from them. I want to know also it’s happening in all countries?
Hi Rohit, this is an excellent question. The answer is, yes, in all countries artists are paid (on average) less than programmers. I think it’s because many companies are competing for programmers (including non-game companies), which drives up the game programmer’s salaries. Game artists and designers are generally not as able to move to different non-game companies, so the competition is lower and so is the pay.
However, game artists are still paid quite well, and can make a good living for themselves and their families. An entry-level artist making USD $55,000 is in the 60th percentile of income here in the US.
Has this article been updated since 2015? Also, I live in Orange County and see the obvious Irvine (Blizzard), but it would have been best to have Orange County on there and not just Irvine.
Hi Eve, thank you for that suggestion. I have not updated this since 2015 — I don’t think the gamedev landscape has changed much, but maybe it’s due for an update soon.
Hi! Jason.
A very well written article, I always wanted to go to Japan and according to your article, being a game programmer I have come to an understanding that Tokyo would be the best place to go for me as I love the type of games and in India there are more mobile game development studios rather than console or pc. Just one question how well are programmers paid in the Tokyo region.
Thank you!
Hi Gaurav, anecdotally, I’ve heard Japanese developers make generally less than developers in the USA. But I don’t have any data on game programmer salaries in Japan, and I couldn’t find anything by searching online except for an old report from 2010 on Gamasutra.com. You may need to get in touch with some Japanese development studios to learn more.
Hello Jason Sir,
How job opportunity is for fresher after doing MS from US University. Is it really difficult to get H1B visa for international student?
With best regards,
S. Nandi
Hi Satyajit, the opportunity is good, but you may need to apply only to large companies as smaller companies don’t usually have the resources to sponsor visas for international students. There’s more information here: Move to the US to get a job in game development.
Hi, Jason,
Your article provides a great start for researching the US gaming industry. I worked for a game publisher in China and intend to relocate to New York.
It seems that NY is the hotbed of gaming industry in the East Coast. I wonder whether there is a thriving startup and indie game developer community in New York area? Could you please share more on that?
Many thanks!
Minghui
Hi Minghui, yes, there are a number of game developers in New York. Game Job Hunter maintains a list here: https://gamejobhunter.com/local-video-game-companies-new-york-city/, it’s worth checking out.
Hi Jason,
Thank you for all the great information on your site. Can you give any tips on applying for employment with game companies from out of state? I live in a state (in the US) with almost no game companies and I would like to get a job, as a game programmer, in a game company in another state. I don’t really have the option to move first before I find a job though, meaning i would have to get a job first and then move.
I know generally speaking it’s more difficult to get a job when applying from out of state. What tips do you have on overcoming those difficulties, specifically for game jobs?
Hi Lou, I totally agree that you should get a job *before* moving. It’s actually really normal to apply for jobs out of state, it’s generally not an issue since you can do the initial interviews via phone and/or video conference. Many companies will even pay for your trip and hotel during the on-site interview, and many will even help with moving costs (article about it here). Be sure to read all my articles on job hunting đŸ™‚ I wish you the best with your job hunt!
Where would be the best place to start of coding games because i want to do this when i am older i am 13 and really want to make video games, so do you guys have any advice
Hi Jesse, check out my article about the best way to start game programming while you’re in high school. It will help you get started.
hi Jason
I am from india and can u really suggest me a degree for becoming a game programmer and which is the best city for employment and is becoming a game programmer a good idea coz the employment rate has been decreasing since 2014
Hi Abhishek, any degree that teaches computer programming would be good for getting into the game industry as a developer. As for employment outlook in the future, I can tell you that the game industry is growing quickly with no sign of slowing. But even if the game industry is slowing down when you graduate, there will be many other programming jobs you can get in any major city in the world. I’ve written more about this in my article about getting a computer science degree, please check it out.
Hello. Thank you very much for this article but l wanted to ask that other than number of studios, which countries are the best from the aspect of lifestyle. I am a Muslim so the availability of job and lifestyle is a really important factor for my future (Thank you very much)
Hi Sarah, that’s a hard question to answer, because it depends on what kind of lifestyle you’re looking for. Even within a single country such as the USA, different cities are considerably different in their culture, politics, and weather. You should definitely research any cities you’re interested in. And if possible, it’s best to visit your top schools to see them in person before making a decision.
Would be nice to update this page since it’s the first one to show up in Google, for instance MontrĂ©al has much more studios that Austin / SF, Ubisoft MTL alone has 3.5K+ employees.
Hi Rask — the charts show number of game studios, not employee count, which is generally useful even though it under-represents the contribution of giant studios like Ubisoft. But it’s still directionally correct, since it still puts Canada in the top 3 worldwide and MontrĂ©al as the top Canadian city. The goal here is to show the top hotbed cities, not necessarily to get a perfect stack-rank. But if you have a good source for Canada studio stats, please send it my way!
I am going to be studying a BSc in Game Design at Staffordshire University this Autumn/Fall I am considering learning a second language to also help improve my job prospects. Would you recommend any my current choices are French, German or Spanish?
Thank you
Hi Tyler, I don’t have a specific recommendation. English is definitely the most useful language in game development right now, so for a 2nd pick I’d just consider whichever language is spoken in the countries you are most interested in living/working in.
Thank you Jason, that’s my problem. German is my favourite language but doesn’t have the most studios. I love Canada especially Vancouver which while not French speaking it would still be beneficial to know French if going to live in Canada. Same with Spanish if I were to move to America.
I have quite the dilemma here.
HI, great articles for someone who’s trying to get into the gaming world as a make a living. I would have never thought that the video game industry was all over the world.
May I ask when this article was published?
Hi Carlos! Video game development is an international business for sure. This article was originally published a few years ago (maybe 2019?) but I update it every year.
currently i am thinking to study bachelors in game design in Australia, is there scope for this? and is it worth to study in Australia
Hi Smit – there are a number of universities in Australia that offer a focus in game design/development (google will help you find them). The game industry in Australia isn’t huge, but there are a handful of established game companies. So I’d say, if you are specifically interested in living in Australia, then it would be a good place to start your career.
Hi, I have completed my bachelor’s degree in computer application in 2021 and I’m currently working in a company. Can you suggest some good universities/colleges in canada which is good for masters in game development?
Hi Krethick – big congratulations on earning your bachelor’s degree! A master’s degree is typically not required to get a job working in games – most game development jobs list a bachelor’s degree as a preferred qualification. That said, I personally am not very familiar with the Canadian college/university system so I can’t make a recommendation, but it looks like there are a number of CA universities offering post-graduate game development degrees.
Thanks for sharing this valuable information with us, it is really helpful article!
Hi, Jason, Amazing Article.
I was wondering what advice could you give for someone like me who wants to start my own video game studio, mainly about choosing location. I’m from Germany, where the game industry is far well developed in comparison to US and although I would move to USA to start a business, I really want to start it in Germany, mainly because I’d be closer to my family, better quality of life and in general a more my type atmosphere, and moving all across to Seattle or LA to start a video game studio just feels lonely, regarding the better opportunities I have. Where as In Germany (in Cologne more specifically) I’d feel more at peace.
My friends tell me: “Why would you move to the USA to an oversaturated market”
and I say: “Well, In Germany there isin’t a big game/animation industry”
and they reply: “Well you could be the first to make it.”
So if you ever see this comment, I’d really love to hear you advice, because this decision is seriously making me go insane. đŸ˜€
Do you think I’d be better if I moved to the US where I’d have more opportunities for success but be lonely, or would it be better to stay in Germany and try to make an impact there by expanding the gaming industry?
Well sincerely appreciate your reply. đŸ™‚
Hi Ralf – the main argument for moving somewhere else to start a game studio, would be getting easier access to more/better talent. However, especially since 2020, a huge amount of game development is being done remotely. So I think a good strategy would be to stay in Germany, and start your company from there, as long as you can find developers who will join your company and work remotely. I wish you the best!
Hey! I am a game developer from India. The work you have done is great. But, is this data updated?
What about 2023 data?
Can you provide the list for this current year?
Hi Rocky49 – the exact details on this page are a little out of date (small game companies come and go quickly sometimes), but the hotspot cities are still hotspots for sure, and are likely to remain for the foreseeable future. If you’re searching for jobs right now, you might also want to check out my big list of game company job boards.
Having degree in animation and a completed portfolio I have not found any job yet. I am still a fresher and have applied to multiple company in my country and oversees also. I did not have any guidance in this industry and had to pursue it on my own nether any competitors since I am the only one pursuing in 3D from my batch (as 3d environment artist) so I would be grateful if you could help my with some guidance to pursue my career.
Hi RG, if you’re applying to a lot of jobs but not hearing back, then it’s likely a problem with your resume and/or your portfolio. So I’d start by getting a few other people (friends, professionals) to give you honest/critical feedback to see what you can improve. Here’s an article that might help out: How to make an awesome game art portfolio