The State of Freelancing in Game Development 2025

In this report, you’ll learn:

  • Why European gamedev studios hired 24% more freelancers in 2025
  • How monthly freelancer income in gamedev shifted over the past two years
  • Which specialisations command the highest rates

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Description

Game production is restructuring. Studios of every size are moving away from large permanent teams toward flexible, project-based talent models.

This report breaks down what’s driving the shift, how freelancer earnings are evolving across roles and regions, and why short-term contracts are growing faster than any other engagement type. Built on Mellow’s 2025 platform data covering 2,000+ contractors and 150+ game studios.

A game development team at work in a studio

About Mellow

Mellow is a contractor management platform powering how studios and freelancers work together — automating contracts, compliance, and payments across 100+ countries.

Game studios working with Mellow: Daijin, D-Games, Domini Games, ChillBase, Tapclap and MY.GAMES
Mellow interface: a contractor list with bulk payouts