Typical comp shape
Game engineers usually earn private rsu or options. Common employers include Epic Games, Riot Games, Roblox, Unity. Epic and Riot are private, so secondary tender offers become the main liquidity event for vested equity.
What Texas changes
Texas has no wage income tax, which is structurally favorable for game engineers with meaningful RSU comp. The savings vs a CA-resident colleague can be $30-60k per year at senior IC levels. That math is why Austin and Seattle are the two top relocation destinations for Bay Area tech workers.
Planning cadence
For a game engineer in Texas, the three planning windows are: after each RSU vest (withholding check and sell-vs-hold), before any ISO exercise (AMT model at federal only), and in Q4 (estimated tax top-up to clear the safe harbor). A move-out question — if you're considering leaving Texas for a high-tax state, time it around vesting.