In video games it would be very hard to make that kind of money(in vast majority of the world anyway) if you're just starting out. I myself was only paid £18k/pa as a junior programmer at a big studio, programming in C++ with two CS degrees. Industry pays crap to those starting out. So compared to that yeah, if you manage to make some games that make enough money to pay the bills and which give you game Dev experience......completely worth it. Or you could leave the industry, get a normal software job and be paid well - the choice is yours.
> I myself was only paid £18k/pa as a junior programmer at a big studio, programming in C++ with two CS degrees
How long ago was that though? I started professionally in games in 2004 getting paid £16k/pa living in Dundee making J2ME games then moved over to another company making a UE3 title after six months going up to 19k/pa. I also had an offer for 21k/pa working for EA Chertsey but didn't fancy moving there!
I hope base salary has gone up by quite a bit in the UK since then!
I think that's very regional? Salary surveys usually list Europeans much lower after currency conversion.
A half decade before you, I also started at a big studio writing C++ (but with one degree) and was paid more twice that but in Canadian dollars (65k CAD). You're right that it pays lower than other programming jobs: Silicon Valley starting salaries were around 80k USD.
