The seventh annual Game Developer Salary Survey, conducted among 4,800 respondents by Game Developer magazine, reveals that the average salary in the video game industry was $73,600 in 2007, up from $73,316 in 2006.

The survey reports that programmers are among the highest paid professionals in the industry, with an average annual salary of $83,383. They are also some of the most highly-educated professionals in the industry--more than half of them hold a bachelor's degree or higher. The highest paid positions in the industry, however, are those involved in business and marketing fields, with an average salary of $101, 848.

Professionals involved in video game production made an average salary of $78, 716 in 2007. More women are involved in this aspect of the industry than in most others, as 18 percent of this workforce is made up of females, according to the survey.

Other positions and their 2007 average annual salaries reported in the survey include: Game design positions ($63,649), sound designers ($73,400) and quality assurance/testers ($39,063).

"Our Salary Survey continues to provide canonical information on the state of game pay," Simon Carless, publisher of Game Developer magazine, said in a press release announcing the survey. "We hope the data presented by Game Developer magazine will serve to both encourage aspiring developers, as well as focus the attention of increasingly important new industry positions such as community managers."

HR or compensation professionals in the game industry who are interested in further details--including regional and growth data for year-over-year results from 2004-2007 can find more information at Game Developer magazine's Game Developer Research website(www.gamedevresearch.com).