So you got the offer. Brilliant! Now comes the bit nobody really prepares you for: the money. You want to be comfortable. You don't want to be living in a bedsit with a month's worth of ramen as your only food source. You want to buy coffee, video games and art tutorials, right? Who doesn't!
There's no single number I can give you, because pay depends on the country, the city, the studio and the role. What I can tell you is how studios actually decide what to offer, and how to get the best deal you can.
What decides your starting salary
As a junior, your experience usually comes from university or online training. If you've done some modding or freelance work before applying, that all counts, and it bumps up your worth.
Then there's how desirable your work is. Some styles and genres are in high demand, and if your art happens to fit, that helps at the negotiation stage. Quality counts most of all. If you're making killer art, you're in a strong position to ask for what you want.
Scarcity plays a part too. Environment art is usually the biggest department in a studio, so it has the most openings, but also the most applicants. VFX and UI teams are smaller, but good candidates are harder to find, and quality character and concept artists are scarcer than you'd think. That said, please don't pick a discipline for the money. You'll spend a huge chunk of your waking life doing this, so choose the thing that excites you.
Your situation matters more than you'd think
If your bank account is about to hit zero, you'll take whatever's offered to pay the bills. If you're already in a job, you can afford to be choosy. That's the best place to negotiate from.
I learned that the hard way. I once resigned from a job and needed a new gig fast. I had bills to pay, a family to support and I was feeling burnt out, so I took the first interesting job I could find. It meant stepping down the career ladder for a while, and between a poor exchange rate and lower UK salaries, it paid 35% less than my previous job. It was never going to be easy, but looking back it worked out OK. I found new routes to progress and eventually made it to the Art Director role I wanted. But it's a good example of how much your circumstances shape the deal you end up with.
How salary bands work
Studios work with salary bands, a bracket of pay for each position. Within that bracket, every candidate can be average, good or amazing, and the studio pays accordingly. A few websites collect survey data on games industry salaries across the US and Europe, so use them to get a feel for what's realistic for your role and location before you talk numbers. Glassdoor is a good start, and so are the annual industry salary surveys.
There are also crowdsourced Google Sheets where developers anonymously share what they're paid, by role, studio and location. Two worth a look are the UK games industry salary transparency sheet and the international game dev salary sheet started by GLITCH. Take them with a pinch of salt, because entries are self-reported and some are a few years old, but they're a great way to see the range before you walk into a negotiation.
Bonuses aren't salary
Start-ups in particular might offer a lower salary to save cash and make up for it with stock options or bonuses. The wider package matters too: health, dental, life cover and pension can all be worth real money.
But here's the thing I'd tattoo on every junior's arm if I could. Salary pays the bills. It's money in the bank every month. Bonuses are fantasy money. They might happen, and they can be big, or they might not happen at all. I'm not saying don't take a deal with a low salary and a big bonus promise, just weigh up the risk and what it would mean for you if it never comes.
Can you negotiate as a junior?
Honestly, early in your career there isn't much of a negotiation. You need the job and you want to get into the industry, so you're on the back foot, and in a tough market even more so. But studios are competing with each other for good people, and that gives you a little room.
If you get a low-ball offer, you can still counter, even as a junior. Keep it simple and friendly: "I love the package, but a salary of X is what I was hoping for." Then see what they say. Worst case, they tell you it's a final offer and you decide on that basis. Best case, you get more money. The middle ground is an agreement to review your salary after six months, and if you've proved your worth, they'll honour it. Get that in writing if you can.
As your career grows, so does your leverage. You'll be able to negotiate a higher salary, better bonuses and other perks. Everyone starts somewhere.
If you're still at the stage before the offer, have a read of how to get your first job as a game artist. And for the whole picture, from contracts and benefits to the move into senior roles, it's all in my book, Game Artist: The Ultimate Career Guide.