Generic cost-of-living calculators tell you what your money buys somewhere else. They cannot tell you what your job pays there. That second number is the one that decides whether a studio will match your ask — so this tool benchmarks your salary against the published band for your actual role and level in the target market.
Remote pay equivalence calculator
Industry-adjustedWhat your salary is actually worth in another market — measured against what your role pays there, not against a generic cost-of-living index.
Why "remote" and "paid the same" are different questions
A remote role is almost always priced to the country you are legally employed in, not the country the studio is in. Two people doing identical work on the same team, one in Texas and one in Poland, are routinely on very different contracts — not because the studio is being unfair, but because it runs separate pay bands per market and often a separate legal entity.
That means the useful question is never "what does this studio pay?" It is "what does this role pay in the market I will be employed from?"
The published bands behind this calculator
| Level | North America (USD) | United Kingdom (GBP) | Western Europe (EUR) | Eastern Europe (EUR) | MENA (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graduate | $53,426 | £27,175 | not published | not published | not published |
| Junior | $64,100 | £30,313 | €35,220 | €24,284 | $42,000 |
| Mid | $90,094 | £45,891 | €39,000 | €39,547 | $61,483 |
| Senior | $100,824 | £54,275 | €55,724 | €47,568 | $77,906 |
| Lead / Manager | $131,420 | £72,981 | €59,799 | €78,871 | $88,453 |
| Principal | $165,000 | £76,010 | €77,404 | €73,396 | $110,160 |
| Director | $186,800 | £114,150 | €97,873 | €97,144 | $139,755 |
The spread is larger than most people expect
A Senior in North America and a Senior in Eastern Europe are, in raw currency, roughly a factor of two apart. That gap is not a judgement about skill. It reflects local market rates, employer-of-record costs and what competing local studios pay.
It also explains why worldwide-open roles tend to pay below US-only roles: a studio hiring anywhere usually prices to a global band rather than a San Francisco one.
How to use this when negotiating
If you are moving to a cheaper market
Expect a downward adjustment and negotiate the size of it, not the existence of it. Arguing that your output has not changed is true and rarely works; arguing that your role’s band in the new market supports a specific number does work, because it is the same logic the employer is using.
If you are in a cheaper market applying to an expensive one
Your leverage is the gap between what the studio would pay locally and what it will pay you. Name a number anchored to the target market rather than to your current salary — the single most expensive mistake is volunteering your current pay first.
If the studio is genuinely location-agnostic
A minority of fully distributed studios pay one global band regardless of location. These are worth finding, and the ones on this board that hire worldwide are listed in the worldwide roles guide.
What this calculator deliberately does not do
It does not apply a purchasing-power index. Dozens of tools already convert salaries by PPP, and they do it well. Layering our own PPP maths on top would add error without adding insight.
What it does instead is the part nobody else covers: putting an industry band behind the comparison, so you are measured against other game developers in that market rather than against the general population.
Frequently asked questions
Can I keep my US salary while living abroad?
Sometimes, usually for a limited period, and usually only if you are already employed and the studio agrees to it. Applying from abroad to a US-priced role and expecting US pay is much harder, because the employer is pricing the market, not you.
Does contracting get round the regional band?
Partly. Contractors are priced closer to the client’s market than employees are, which is one reason developers in lower-paying regions often earn more invoicing than they would on a local payroll. Work out what rate that actually requires with the freelance rate calculator.
Which regions have the most remote game jobs?
On this board, North America is the deepest market, followed by worldwide-open roles and then Europe. The regional breakdown of every live listing is in the worldwide guide.
Check the bands against live roles
Every listing on the job board states the region you must be employed in, verified against the studio’s own posting rather than copied from an aggregator. If you want the underlying pay data on its own, the game developer salary calculator has the full breakdown.