MCV today released the results of a survey into salaries in the gaming industry. Perhaps naively I figured there’d be big money in developing video-games, however I got a surprise when I read that the average salary for those working in development is only £31,964. I know my work isn’t directly comparable to the gaming industry, but at the end of the day it’s the same skill set, and the final deliverable is still a piece of software — so I’m officially better than average, and a bit less disgruntled about my own job despite no meaningful pay rise for the past 2 years.

Depressingly, people in “marketing and publishing” reported that they earned £12,500 more, on average, than those in development jobs — I’m definitely in the wrong profession.

Good marketing doesn’t make a good product, but that’s the world we live in — style over substance. Why invest in making something of such high quality that people will want it when it’s easier to convince people they want it through marketing. Just take a look at all the biggest selling products these days – Wii, iPod, X-Factor winners — perfect examples of style over substance!