Need help figuring out how much to pay each developer

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#1

Hello so I’ve recently stumped myself recently. Since I’m a coder I don’t really know how much each of the other developers I work with should get paid since I don’t know the intensity of their workload.

Like this is what the development team looks like:

  1. Me, I am the sole scripter and UI designer. (Since I do both, they’re both my primaries)
  2. Person 2, does modeling, terrain, rigging, and animating. (Primarily modeling)
  3. Person 3, does modeling.
  4. Person 4, does modeling and terrain. (Primarily terrain)
  5. Person 5, does modeling. (More than Person 3)
  6. Person 6, does modeling, rigging, and terrain. (Primarily rigging)
  7. Person 7, does animating. (Primarily animating)

Redundant list, but I can break it down further in the categories on how much they actually do so I can get a more accurate amount percent for each developer.

The category is named on the left, and from left to right after the dash is who does what over who more.
Example: Modeling - Person 7, Person 6 (Person 7 models more than Person 6.)

Scripting - Me
GUI Design - Me
Modeling - Person 6, Person 5, Person 2, Person 4, Person 3
Terrain - Person 4, Person 2, Person 6
Rigging - Person 6, Person 2
Animating - Person 7, Person 2

Person 2 is primarily just a back up for when someone else cannot fill in.

Sorry if this post is unnecessarily long, but this problem has been occuring to me for a while now. They all typically get paid based on commission but the game we’ve all created together is leaving beta quite soon and I don’t think that’s right post-release.

Also, I’ve heard a lot of backlash against percentages (which is what I’m trying to figure out for this post) and if this isn’t a good method, can someone give me insight on what would be a better method non-commission based?

PS: Yes we have a lot of modelers. Just thought I’d mention that before this post becomes off topic based on how many people do what.

Thanks in advance,
Warriorfoox.

#2

I’m not sure if this is the right category that you should be posting in, but I believe it doesn’t matter how much they do (In terms of what they are able to do.) But how much work and time they put into it.

#3

It is me looking for help, I could be wrong about this however and sorry if I am.

Also, the thing is the game is leaving the main development phase in which it was in. I would like to pay my developers monetarily for the work they’ve already done. Kind of like saying if you worked on a website but then there was less to do, you’d still receive pay monetarily for your previous works.

#4

Whoever you feel has done the most pay them accordingly. Depending on your definition of “Main Development” phase I recommend paying them half of what you promised / considered. Then go down the list from there.

Don’t forget to let the others know that the rest of them will be paid the rest of their sum when the game is completed, as some may feel a bit jealous that someone received a higher pay. The main developmental phase I imagine had less use of some people than others.

#5

Percentages won’t work well for your case of a total of 7 members in the team.

I am not someone who works in a development team nor am I experienced in leading any teams so take my advice with a grain of salt.

You should pay your workers based on the expected amount of work and their work’s value as an individual. It usually depends on the effort and difficulty of their role in the team.

Animations probably don’t have to be created so often compared to modeling and building so people who do those should be paid less than modelers. If modeling is not frequent among the team, the pay may need to be stabilized to the same for Person 3 & 5 despite 5 doing more work. You should really even out their workload if they’re doing the same role.

You have a lot of terrain creators as well and it depends if you think the terrain work is more important than the rest in terms of payment.

Person 2 looks to me as if he is a leader of Person 3 to 7 (based on having all 4 skills that they do) so you could give him the role of something like that if he’s good at all his 4 skills and pay him accordingly.

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