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Bluetracker

Tracks Blizzard employees across various accounts.

#GameDevPaidMe Pre-Blizzard - ~$120k as a programmer 2012 - $128k 2013 - $111k 2014 - $138k 2015 - $128k 2016 - $147k 2017 - $131k 2018 - $122k 2019 - $121k 2020 - $151k 2021 - $190k (est) Support your colleagues by promoting transparency and pay equity! https://t.co/Co8R2qIEpX

#GameDevPaidMe Pre-Blizzard - ~$120k as a programmer 2012 - $128k 2013 - $111k 2014 - $138k 2015 - $128k 2016 - $147k 2017 - $131k 2018 - $122k 2019 - $121k 2020 - $151k 2021 - $190k (est) Support your colleagues by promoting transparency and pay equity! https://t.co/Co8R2qIEpX

  • Chadd Nervigg
    Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
    #GameDevPaidMe Pre-Blizzard - ~$120k as a programmer 2012 - $128k 2013 - $111k 2014 - $138k 2015 - $128k 2016 - $147k 2017 - $131k 2018 - $122k 2019 - $121k 2020 - $151k 2021 - $190k (est) Support your colleagues by promoting transparency and pay equity! https://t.co/Co8R2qIEpX

    • Chadd Nervigg
      Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      My compensation has been up and down due to varying amounts of overtime (generally gone down over time, nearly none on Hearthstone), and a few significant bonuses here and there. These are totals from W-2s. Happy to share itemized detail with colleagues, just ask.

      • Chadd Nervigg
        Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        Also relevant for others outside of Blizzard reading this: Irvine cost of living is ridiculous. Over these years, my 2BR apartment near campus (always split with a roommate) has gone from $1700 to $2700/mo.

        • SithRaider
          Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @Celestalon Thats why i said youre underpaid. 190K base or total with bonuses etc?

          • Chadd Nervigg
            Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
            @SithRaider This is totals on W-2s (so includes all bonuses, profit sharing, overtime).

        • CallMeQuestifer
          Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @Celestalon It doesn't help that CoL is going up by 5-10% per year, but their BASELINE raises per year is like 2-3%. I got a 2% raise the same year I'd added 400/month to my rent and felt insulted. It's part of why I left.

          • Chadd Nervigg
            Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
            @CallMeQuestifer Yuuup. I included my estimate of this year, to show the large pay bump that I got this year, which I had to fight hard for. I encourage all of my colleagues to fight hard for their pay too. If you don't ask, they won't give (at least as much). Be a squeaky wheel.

        • RavenSunHS
          Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @Celestalon Is that a choice or you wouldn't be able to afford your own flat? If that's the case, it sounds pretty crazy to me.

          • Chadd Nervigg
            Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
            @RavenSunHS Actually, just checked, it's even higher now. At the apartments where I've lived for the past decade, current prices for new tenants: Studios: $2,480 - $2,620 1BRs: $2,610 - $3,150 2BRs: $3,195 - $4,495 The apartment I just moved out of is available for $3,195 (1,158sqft).

            • GallonHS
              Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
              @Celestalon @RavenSunHS 🙃

            • unfiltered_z
              Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
              @Celestalon @RavenSunHS Can you explain the thought process of being an adult with a programmer salary for a decade, but not owning a house

              • Chadd Nervigg
                Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                @unfiltered_z @RavenSunHS Sure: Houses here are just as ridiculous as apartments. A 3BR house in Irvine sells for $800k to $1.5mil.

        • CrunchTime4L
          Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @Celestalon So $2700 is $1350 for you since it’s split? Does that include utilities etc? Still lots of money to invest for early retirement. Not bad!

          • Chadd Nervigg
            Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
            @CrunchTime4L Does not include utilities.

    • Mokerie1
      Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @Celestalon Why'd you keep getting pay cuts?

      • Chadd Nervigg
        Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @Mokerie1 See next tweet. There were no pay cuts.

    • BrutusCornelius
      Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @Celestalon thanks for sharing. if i may ask, how many years experience as a programmer in the pre-2012 period?

      • Chadd Nervigg
        Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @BrutusCornelius Yeah, 8.5yr as a C# .NET programmer prior to Blizz. (7yr of that as a contractor for Microsoft). That $120k was with no overtime, just a simple salary. My starting salary at Blizz was $78k, plus 10% guaranteed bonus, $17k of profitsharing, and $27k of overtime.

    • MicahNieman
      Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @Celestalon While I applaud the transparency, I worry that only the upper earners are sharing this data, which would skew the numbers we're getting upward from the reality. I know I'd be embarrassed to share if I felt like my numbers were low, and I imagine many others are similar.

      • Chadd Nervigg
        Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @MicahNieman From those I’ve talked to internally about pay, my pay has been on the very high end for my roles; my technical background and skills earned a significant premium. (And even still, was 30%-50% less than I could make elsewhere, for most of my time here.)

    • thewileyside
      Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @Celestalon dang dude. what title did you come in as?

      • Chadd Nervigg
        Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @thewileyside Technical Game Designer. Started high for Blizz, but stagnated until recently instead.

    • thejamesxgames
      Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @Celestalon I've seen multiple Blizz folks whose pay dropped in 2013 then went back up, what's the deal there?

      • Chadd Nervigg
        Posted 3 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @thejamesxgames It's likely not that salary or $/hr went down, but rather amount of overtime going up and down. In my case (and many others'), we worked much more overtime during years that we were trying to ship a WoW expansion, and much less in the other years.
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