Women earn more than men in the UK games industry

Who said the games industry was just a boys club?

Whilst women are still a minority in the sector’s workforce, they are earning more than their male counterparts, according to research conducted by MCV.

Average female annual salaries are 2,000 higher than the male wage, at 33,260.

The data comes from a survey conducted by MCV and its sister magazine Develop, featuring responses from 528 UK games industry professionals. Our research took in all sectors, from retail and publishing through to services and development, plus the games media and PR.

Our overall results buck the national averages, too. The overall average games industry yearly salary is 31,655, higher than the Office of National Statistics’ average of 24,908. The ONS says that, on average, women earn up to 100 a week less than men, but in games it’s a contrasting figure – with women making around 40 more a week than men.

Women working in the games industry also seem to be more optimistic about their career and job prospects for 2009. 72 per cent of female respondents said that they were confident about the year ahead, versus 66 per cent of men who said the same.

Although just ten per cent of the industry’s workforce is female, prominent women in the sector think the news shows that the market should be attracting more female talent.

This proves that women can forge decent careers in what is perceived as a male-dominated sector,” said one leading publisher’s HR rep.

Nicola Bhalerao, a software engineer at Microsoft studio Rare – and head of the Women in Games Conference – added: This is fantastic news. Hopefully it will help attract more women to make great quality games.”

Check back to MCV over the next week to find out more data from our salary survey, plus content from our recruitment special.