A new study has revealed which video game characters would earn the most in the UK if they worked in their real-life equivalent careers.
A new study by video game news site Power Up Gaming has determined which video game characters would earn the highest salaries in the UK. 20 popular video game characters with relatable real-life jobs were chosen, and the median UK salary for each job was determined.
Mercy from Overwatch would earn the most, £125,000 a year, as a surgeon. Overwatch is a multiplayer first-person shooter from 2016. In Overwatch, Dr Angela Ziegler, known as Mercy, is described as a Swiss doctor in her character background. When Mercy is played in-game, she is a support-class hero who heals her teammates. Her closest real-world equivalent UK career would be a surgeon, and an NHS consultant surgeon has a median salary of £125,000 a year, placing her as the highest-earning video game character.
Cid Highwind from Final Fantasy VII ranks second. He trained to fly a rocket into space and later became an airship captain, making an airline pilot his real-life equivalent job. In the UK, an airline pilot earns a median salary of £90,000 a year.
Professor Cecil B. Heimerdinger from League of Legends became better known after the release of the show Arcane. Heimerdinger is a scientist, inventor, and professor who worked at Piltover Academy, mentoring students and the next generation of scientists, including Jayce and Viktor. The median salary for a professor in the UK is £80,000, making him the third-highest-earning character.
Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney would easily transition into the role of solicitor in the UK. He is a defence attorney who inherited his own law firm and was known for taking difficult and unusual cases. The median salary for a solicitor is £56,977, placing him fourth overall.
Coco Bandicoot from Crash Bandicoot is a computer programmer and inventor who often helps her brother, Crash, on his adventures. If Coco worked in the UK, her closest real-life equivalent job would be a software developer, a role with a median UK salary of £56,914 a year.
Dr Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog is a well-known villain who works in the field of robotics. Throughout the Sonic series, he designs and builds robots and boasts an IQ of 300. In the UK, the median salary for a mechanical engineer is £50,594, making him the sixth-highest earner.
Caitlyn Kiramman, also from League of Legends, became a popular champion to play when she was a main character in Arcane. Kiramman is the sheriff of Piltover and teams up with fellow character Vi, and in season 2 of Arcane she rose further in popularity when she tracked down the villain, Jinx. Her real-life role would be a UK police officer, earning £46,000.
Tom Nook from Animal Crossing is a businessman who buys, sells, and develops properties. Nook ran the town’s shop and expanded his business to Nook’s Homes, which helps finance properties. He would enjoy a career as a property developer in the UK, a role with a median salary of £45,031.
Gordon Freeman from Half-Life works as a physicist in the game. He earned a PhD in theoretical physics from MIT and went on to work at a research facility. A physicist in the UK earns a median salary of £45,000 a year.
Piper Wright from Fallout 4 is a journalist for a newspaper, where she writes about corruption and injustice. She rounds out the top 10 with a UK journalist’s median salary of £41,583.
The full top 10
- Dr Angela Ziegler (Mercy) from Overwatch — Surgeon (NHS consultant): £125,000
- Cid Highwind from Final Fantasy VII — Airline pilot: £90,00012w2q
- Professor Cecil B. Heimerdinger from League of Legends — University professor: £80,000
- Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney — Solicitor: £56,977
- Coco Bandicoot from Crash Bandicoot — Software developer: £56,914
- Doctor Eggman from Sonic the Hedgehog — Mechanical engineer: £50,594
- Caitlyn Kiramman from League of Legends — Police officer: £46,000
- Tom Nook from Animal Crossing — Property developer: £45,031
- Gordon Freeman from Half-Life — Physicist: £45,000
- Piper Wright from Fallout 4 — Journalist: £41,583
What the findings suggest
Chris Mawson, founder of Power Up Gaming, commented on the findings: “Video games and their characters are often thought of as fictional, far-fetched, or not relatable. It is surprising how many video game characters actually have recognisable skills and careers, just like the rest of us. Looking at what these characters would earn in UK professions creates a fun contrast between the world of their video game and the reality of their earning potential.”
“With characters such as Mercy and Cid Highwind ranking so highly, it shows how valuable specialised skills can be. What stands out is the gap between characters like Mercy, who would earn £125,000 as a surgeon, and Piper Wright, who, as a journalist, would earn less than a third of that. It is a reminder that the careers we often romanticise in fiction do not always translate to the highest real-world pay. Those with careers in medicine, aviation, and academia all feature near the top of the high earners list. It makes you wonder which other video game characters could have lucrative careers if they lived in the real world.”
The findings highlight how specialised professions in medicine and aviation command significantly higher median pay than roles in journalism or property development, according to the Power Up Gaming analysis of UK salary data.