💡 Why it matters: Mobile and console gaming is booming worldwide, and studios of every size are creating games with local stories and characters that the world can enjoy.
🌍 Around the world
- Nigeria: Mobile gaming is booming across Africa, and local studios are starting to create games with African stories and characters.
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦1M – ₦3M
- Mid-career
- ₦3M – ₦8M
- Senior
- ₦8M – ₦20M
≈ ₦250k – ₦667k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇺🇸 United States
Closest US category: Software developers, quality assurance analysts and testers. Median pay. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Closest Job Bank occupation: Software developer. Hourly wage low/median/high x 2,080 hours. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Code game rules, levels and characters
- Use engines like Unity or Godot
- Test games for fun and for bugs
- Work with artists and sound designers
- Make games run smoothly on cheap phones
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Coding
- Creativity
- Maths and logic
- Teamwork
- Patience
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Self-taught with game jams and a playable portfolio
- Game development bootcamp or online courses
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Software developer or games-related apprenticeships
- Self-taught with game jams and a playable portfolio
🇺🇸 United States
- Community college game programming or design program
- Self-taught with game jams and a playable portfolio
🇨🇦 Canada
- College game development or programming diploma
- Self-taught with game jams and a playable portfolio
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Play lots of games and think about how they work
- 2Learn a beginner engine like Scratch, then Unity
- 3Make and share a small game
- 4Study Computer Science or build a portfolio
- 5Join a studio or build your own indie game
⏰ A day in the life
You code a new enemy that chases the player, test it for an hour and notice it gets stuck behind a wall. After fixing it, you share the build with testers and read their funny feedback.