Ukrainian game developers have once again caught up with the rest of the IT market in terms of developer salaries. Just six months ago, the median salary of game developers was $450 lower than that of developers in Ukrainian IT in general. Now this difference has decreased to $200.
Ukrainian game developers have once again caught up with the rest of the IT market in terms of developer salaries. Just six months ago, the median salary of game developers was $450 lower than that of developers in Ukrainian IT in general. Now this difference has decreased to $200.
This is evidenced by the results of a new salary survey by GameDev DOU, in which 533 specialists participated.
The overall median salary in Ukrainian game development has increased again after the winter drop and is $2,400. In fact, it has returned to the record level of summer 2025. Among the main specializations, software engineers now earn the most. Their median has increased, while managers, on the contrary, have gone down.
The sharpest drop in DOU was recorded in HR, Recruiting, and L&D: from $3,500 to $2,225. At the same time, the authors of the study warn that such a difference may be explained not only by changes in the market, but also by a different composition of respondents in the new wave of the survey.
The leader among programming languages has also changed. This time, TypeScript showed the highest median salary — $5,750. Six months ago, Java was in first place. However, TypeScript is far from the most popular language in Ukrainian game development. Developers work with C#/.NET and C++ much more often. But the share of C#/.NET is gradually decreasing. A year ago, about half of the surveyed developers called it their main language, and now — a little more than a third.
In QA, meanwhile, there are almost no changes. The median salary of testers has remained at $2,000 for the third consecutive half-year. At the same time, testers in game dev still earn less than QA specialists in IT in general. For example, for seniors it is $2,310 versus $3,200.
Also, the salaries of artists and animators recovered after the previous drop: the median increased by $300 and reached $2050. And for game designers, the trend was the opposite - the indicator decreased from $2240 to $2000.
Previously, dev.ua wrote that in the summer of 2025, the median salary in Ukrainian game development reached $2,400 for the first time, setting a record. Now it has returned to this level after a winter decline.
