Survey measures $842 million in compensation
 | Lars Wingefors, CEO Embracer Group $162,293 (total compensation) $81 (hourly average) |
| Claude Guillemot, CEO Guillemot Corporation $185,004 (total compensation) $92 (hourly average) |   |
 | Hannes Wallin, CEO Fractal Gaming $238,447 (total compensation) $119 (hourly average) |
| Adam Foroughi, CEO AppLovin $409,462 (total compensation) $204 (hourly average) |  |
 | Darcy Taylor, CEO East Side Games $418,473 † (total compensation) $295 (hourly average) |
| Alex Nichiporchik, CEO tinyBuild $419,460 (total compensation) $209 (hourly average) |  |
 | Anton Gauffin, CEO Huuuge Games $470,800 (total compensation) $235 (hourly average) |
| Kati Levoranta, CEO Rovio $535,722 (total compensation) $267 (hourly average) |  |
 | David Braben, CEO Frontier Developments $581,516 (total compensation) $290 (hourly average) |
| Carl Cavers, CEO Sumo Group $685,495 (total compensation) $342 (hourly average) |  |
 | Abramo Galante, CEO Raffaele Galante, co-CEO Digital Bros $712,560 (total compensation) each $356 (hourly average) each |
| Alain Falc, CEO Nacon $727,739 (total compensation) $363 (hourly average) |  |
 | Dmitry Kozko, CEO Motorsport Games $737,672 (total compensation) $368 (hourly average) |
| Yves Guillemot, CEO Ubisoft $925,314 (total compensation) $642 (hourly average) |  |
 | Marcin Iwiński, Joint CEO CD Projekt $1,032,536 (total compensation) $516 (hourly average) |
| Adam Kiciński, Joint CEO CD Projekt $1,054,090 (total compensation) $527 (hourly average) |  |
 | Frédéric Chesnais, CEO Atari $1,124,870 (total compensation) $562 (hourly average) |
| Frank Sagnier, CEO Codemasters $1,267,155 † (total compensation) $633 (hourly average) |  |
 | Andrew Day, CEO Keywords Studios $1,299,104 (total compensation) $649 (hourly average) |
| Joshua Wilson, CEO SciPlay $1,635,171 (total compensation) $817 (hourly average) |  |
 | Juergen Stark, CEO Turtle Beach $2,275,770 (total compensation) $1,137 (hourly average) |
| Andrew Paul, CEO Corsair $2,796,433 (total compensation) $1,398 (hourly average) |  |
 | Shuntaro Furukawa, President Nintendo $2,839,072 (total compensation) $1,419 (hourly average) |
| Hajime Satomi, CEO Sega Sammy $2,949,168 (total compensation) $1,474 (hourly average) |  |
 | Yosuke Matsuda, President Square Enix $4,169,594 (total compensation) $2,084 (hourly average) |
| Stéphane Roussel, CEO Gameloft $3,673,362 (total compensation) $1,836 (hourly average) |  |
 | Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, CEO Modern Times Group $4,309,571 † (total compensation) $2,873 (hourly average) |
| David Baszucki, CEO Roblox $6,775,108 (total compensation) $3,387 (hourly average) |  |
 | George E. Sherman, CEO Gamestop $7,609,754 (total compensation) $3,804 (hourly average) |
| Owen Mahoney, CEO Nexon $8,311,079 (total compensation) $4,155 (hourly average) |  |
 | Nick Earl, CEO Glu Mobile $8,633,871 (total compensation) $4,316 (hourly average) |
| Debbie Bestwick, CEO Team17 $10,242,642 (total compensation) $5,121 (hourly average) |  |
 | Min-Liang Tan, CEO Razer $10,457,000 (total compensation) $5,228 (hourly average) |
| Taek-Jin Kim, CEO NCsoft $15,620,773 (total compensation) $7,810 (hourly average) |  |
 | Strauss Zelnick, CEO Take-Two Interactive $18,111,761 (total compensation) $9,055 (hourly average) |
| John Riccitiello, CEO Unity Software $22,001,733 (total compensation) $11,000 (hourly average) |  |
 | Frank Gibeau, CEO Zynga $32,003,768 (total compensation) $16,001 (hourly average) |
| Andrew Wilson, CEO Electronic Arts $34,715,802 (total compensation) $17,357 (hourly average) |  |
 | Andrew Paradise, CEO Skillz $103,321,052 (total compensation) $51,660 (hourly average) |
| Robert Kotick, CEO Activision Blizzard $154,613,318 (total compensation) $77,306 (hourly average) |  |
 | Robert Antokol, CEO Playtika $372,008,176 (total compensation) $186,004 (hourly average) |
Median Employee Compensation:
Electronic Arts: $123,935
Activision: $99,100
Zynga: $98,781
Glu Mobile: $89,738
Take-Two: $72,046
Gamestop: $11,033
CEO Pay Ratio Disclosure:
Glu Mobile: 1 to 96
Take-Two: 1 to 252
Electronic Arts: 1 to 316
Zynga: 1 to 324
Gamestop: 1 to 650
Activision: 1 to 1,560
Explanation:
Publicly-traded companies are owned by shareholders, who elect the board of directors, who select the CEO. The board is responsible for compensation, and their decisions are ratified by shareholder vote. The list above is democracy in action.
Total compensation can come from a mixture of salary, bonus, stock, benefits — all of which have a tax ramification for the CEO.
The board is trying to cause performance, and will tie as many rewards to goals as possible. When investor relations departments translate this it may the share price that measures ultimate success.
Boards of directors believe that there is competition for chief executive officers, and they must meet or exceed the standard comparable compensation in order to retain that CEO.
The roles and responsibilities of the publicly-traded chief executive are beyond the scope of this survey. This data set on CEO pay is of general interest, and presented for anyone who wants better understanding of game industry dynamics.
As further context, six major game companies disclose median compensation, giving a window into pay ratio — how many median workers equal the cost of a single chief executive officer.
Games One forecasts that executive compensation will continue to rise. Numerous factors drive the trend, including year-over-year growth of the total market. Record-breaking revenue and IPOs will always result in executive compensation records.
† Darcy Taylor employment began 17 Apr 2020; compensation would have been higher for full year.
† Frank Sagnier compensation reported for fiscal 2020, whilst calendar 2020 would have been higher.
† Jørgen Madsen Lindemann employment ended 1 Sep 2020; compensation would have been higher for full year.
Copyright © 2022 by Evan Van Zelfden. All rights reserved.