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Freelance Game Developer Jobs in Berkeley, CA (NOW HIRING)

... freelance client work). Not a fit if * You're a sales engineer looking for the next sales engineer ... It's used by artists, filmmakers, game studios, designers, researchers, and VFX houses, including ...

Producer

San Francisco, CA · On-site

$35 - $37/hr

... and programming * Collaborate with Videographers, Editors, Motion/Graphic Designers on custom ... Work with Senior Producer to manage photography requests and delegate tasks to in-house & freelance ...

Freelance Game Developer information

See Berkeley, CA salary details

$39.8K

$132.8K

$220.4K

How much do freelance game developer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 24, 2026, the average yearly pay for freelance game developer in Berkeley, CA is $132,816.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $99,800.00 and $151,800.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a freelance game developer?

A Freelance Game Developer is a self-employed professional who designs, develops, and programs video games for clients or personal projects. They often work on various aspects of game development, including coding, art, design, or audio, depending on their skill set. Freelancers typically find work through contracts, commissions, or by creating and selling their own games. This role offers flexibility in choosing projects and work hours but requires strong self-discipline, technical skills, and business acumen.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a freelance game developer?

To thrive as a Freelance Game Developer, you need strong proficiency in programming languages (such as C++, C#, or JavaScript), game engines (like Unity or Unreal Engine), and a solid understanding of game design principles. Expertise in using version control systems (e.g., Git), graphics tools, and sometimes relevant certifications, such as Unity Certified Developer, are valuable. Excellent communication, time management, and problem-solving skills help build client relationships and effectively manage multiple projects. These skills are crucial for delivering high-quality games on schedule while adapting to varying client needs and technical challenges.

What are some common challenges freelance game developers face, and how can they overcome them?

Freelance game developers often encounter challenges like finding consistent work, managing multiple client expectations, and staying updated with the latest technology and industry trends. Balancing creative freedom with client requirements and ensuring timely delivery of projects can also be demanding when working independently. To overcome these challenges, successful freelancers focus on building a strong portfolio, networking within the gaming community, regularly updating their skillset, and using project management tools to organize tasks and deadlines. Staying proactive in communication and maintaining professionalism with clients helps build long-term working relationships and a steady stream of opportunities.

What are the most commonly searched types of Game Developer jobs in Berkeley, CA?

The most popular types of Game Developer jobs in Berkeley, CA are:

What cities near Berkeley, CA are hiring for Freelance Game Developer jobs?

Cities near Berkeley, CA with the most Freelance Game Developer job openings:

Infographic showing various Freelance Game Developer job openings in Berkeley, CA as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 57% Full Time, 22% Part Time, and 21% Contract. Highlights an 100% In-person job distribution, with an average salary of $132,816 per year, or $63.9 per hour.

Forward Deployed Creative

San Francisco, CA • On-site

$150K - $200K/yr

Full-time

Posted 17 days ago


Job description

The role
The Forward Deployed Creative sits at the front line of every customer engagement we run. When a Fortune 500 brand team, a major studio, or a fast-growing agency wants to see what Comfy can do with their data, their style, their pipeline, you're the one who builds it. Then you ride along through close and into production. Part Comfy expert, part GTM, part dev rel. You'll work directly with our Founding Account Executive and the broader GTM team.
The depth we expect on Comfy itself is the bar. The bar isn't "I've used it." The bar is "I've shipped output I'm proud of, broken things, fixed them, and have opinions on workflows."
What you'll do
  • Build with customers. Custom workflows, demo nodes, proof-of-concept pipelines that close deals. When a prospect asks "can Comfy do this?" you have a working answer within days.
  • Run technical discovery on sales calls. Translate customer problems into Comfy solutions in real time. Spot what's possible, what's not, what's worth scoping, and what's a trap.
  • Own the implementation handoff. Once we close, you ride along until the workflow is shipping in production. Not a permanent CSM role, but you don't disappear after the contract is signed.
  • Create content that compounds. Demo videos, workflow recipes, tutorials, community posts. Some of it is sales enablement. Some of it is dev rel. The best of it is both.
  • Be the bridge to engineering and design. Customer feedback lands with you first. You'll work with our PMs and engineers to turn the sharpest signal into roadmap input.

You might be a good fit if
  • You've used ComfyUI seriously. Not "I tried it once." You've built workflows, broken them, fixed them, and shipped output you're proud of. We'll ask to see it.
  • You have creative range across image and video.
  • You can write Python and read other people's code. You don't need to be an engineer. You need to be dangerous enough to build custom nodes and debug other people's workflows.
  • You're a sharp listener, fast learner, calm under pressure, comfortable in front of customers.
  • You move fast and ship. You'd rather show than tell.
  • You hold your own in a room with senior creative directors, ML engineers, and procurement at the same Zoom.

Bonus if you have
  • Experience at a creative agency, studio, or in-house brand team (MediaMonks, R/GA, Active Theory, etc.)
  • A public portfolio, GitHub, or social presence built around AI-generated work.
  • Open-source contributions to ComfyUI or adjacent projects.
  • Prior exposure to B2B SaaS, even informally (founder, early-stage anything, freelance client work).

Not a fit if
  • You're a sales engineer looking for the next sales engineer seat. This role is more creative, more hands-on, and less scripted than that.
  • You want to be a pure builder. Half of this job is in front of customers.
  • You need a manager to tell you what to build next. You'll be expected to read the deal and choose the build.
  • You bristle at direct feedback. Our cycle is fast and our notes are direct.

Applying
Send your resume and a link to a ComfyUI workflow you've built. Tell us what problem it solves and what you'd change about it. If you don't have one, build one and send it.
Location: San Francisco, in-office. Occasional travel (a handful of times per year) for on-site deployment at strategic enterprise accounts.
About Comfy
Comfy (https://www.comfy.org) is the AI creation engine for visual professionals who demand control over every model, every parameter, and every output. The most powerful workflow engine for visual AI.
Unlike tools that hide everything behind a prompt box, Comfy lets you connect models, processing steps, and outputs on a canvas where every decision is visible and every step is inspectable. It gives you the building blocks to create workflows nobody's imagined yet, and share them with everyone.
What started as an open-source project in 2023 now has 4 million users, 60,000+ community-built nodes, and 150,000+ daily downloads. It's used by artists, filmmakers, game studios, designers, researchers, and VFX houses, including teams at OpenAI, Netflix, Amazon Studios, Ubisoft, EA, and Tencent.
We're a small, intense team in San Francisco. Our team comes from Stability AI and Google, and many contributed to the ComfyUI ecosystem long before working here. Low ego, high ownership. We work hard and demand a lot of each other, but we have fun. Everyone here is building something meaningful that will end up being our life's work.
If this mission excites you and you view yourself as top-tier talent, your future latent self is waiting for you at Comfy.
Check out our Github (https://github.com/comfyanonymous/ComfyUI) and blog (https://blog.comfy.org). We recently raised $30M at a $500M valuation. The round was led by Craft, with participation from Pace Capital, Chemistry, TruArrow, and others.