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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperBusinessHow to set rate as a consulting programmer
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dspencer
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« on: March 23, 2017, 04:36:09 PM »

Hi -

Through some old colleagues I have the opportunity to consult on a game. Talked to the designer + their team, and the pitch sounds good to me, so I'm interested in doing it. However, I have to provide my going rate. I have no idea how to decide on that (I've never worked fulltime on games, in the past, and before that I worked in Software Engineering for salary so I'm pretty new to consulting). Can anyone give advice on setting an initial rate? If I have part of my pay in Rev share, how much should I ask for / how do I trade that off with my flat pay? Pretty lost here, so I appreciate any advice Smiley.
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Fun Infused Games
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« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2017, 09:05:24 AM »

I know this sounds generic, but ask for a rate that makes it worth your time to do the work. One of the mistakes I've made in the past was going too low and then I feel like doing that work is wasting my time and end up hating it.

Will you feel good doing the work if you're paid $10 an hour? How about $20? $30? That's the frame of mind I use when deciding if I want to do a contract or not. If its something interesting or work for a friend, I may take less in pay but make it up in interesting work or feeling good helping out someone I know.
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Cheesegrater
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« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2017, 04:36:20 AM »

The rule of thumb is that a consulting rate should be 2x to 3x what your salaried rate was, depending on experience and/or scarcity of your particular skill set.

If your salary is for a non gamedev position, keep in mind that the average game programmer makes around 80% of what a non-game programmer does. I'd go with Salary x 2 x .8 for a first gig.
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