46% of Russian game developers live abroad

We are beginning to publish the results of the salary survey conducted by us from April to May 2023, chapter by chapter. The first of these publications is about relocation from Russia. In this chapter, we share the percentage of Russian game developers who have moved abroad. We mention which specializations, levels, and age groups were most affected by relocation.

But first, a reminder that we are currently conducting a new salary survey. Through it, we are collecting up-to-date data on the salary situation among Russian-speaking and Russian specialists. You can participate here:

Let's start with the main figure, which is that 46% of Russian game developers live abroad.

How did we calculate this? We took the number of developers who left Russia and participated in the survey, added them to the number of specialists living in Russia who also participated in the survey, and then calculated the percentage from that number. It turns out that by spring 2023, almost half of the Russian game specialists had moved abroad. Most left the country in 2022.

There were two major waves of relocation that year. The first occurred after February 24, 2022. At that time, 39.5% of all current relocators left. The second happened amidst partial mobilization, which started on September 21, 2022. After that, 46.3% of game specialists working abroad by spring of the previous year left the country.

Almost all specialists responsible for business development (90%) left the country, many involved in support and community development (72%) also left, as well as a significant number of analysts and middle management (producers, product managers, project managers) — over 60% in both cases.

There was also a notable trend: the higher the professional level of the employee, the more likely they were to leave. About a third of juniors left the country, but more than half of leads and seniors did.

Age can also be considered a factor influencing departure. Here, too, an expected pattern emerges. Younger professionals (Juniors) likely couldn’t afford to leave for financial reasons, and the older generation had too much tying them to Russia. Consequently, the highest percentage of those who left were aged 25 to 34.

Based on all this, we can conclude that over half of the experienced professionals (primarily producers and project managers) have left the country. Those who remain are mostly entry-level specialists and the older generation.

As for the main locations where specialists have relocated, considering their high mobility, the data here is probably the most outdated. A year and a half ago, the distribution was as follows:

Methodology

This study is the result of the third salary survey of Russian-speaking representatives of the gaming industry. The survey was conducted by WN Media Group from April to May 2023. It was conducted through voluntary questionnaires (participants filled out a freely distributed questionnaire).

The Google form was distributed exclusively through public channels, whose main target audience is representatives of the gaming industry. The outreach included:

• 27 themed Telegram channels where game developers communicate;
• 20 themed VK communities dedicated to game development;
• and App2Top.ru, including social networks and the publication's newsletters.

WN Media Group thanks all the channels and communities that assisted in promoting the survey.

A total of 1004 completed questionnaires were collected during the survey.