This One Secret Trick to Get Americans to Move to Europe: Money
I've seen recruiter after recruiter pitch Stockholm to Americans on bike lanes, fika, and the "European" lifestyle. Yet, when it comes to compensation and taxes, they become notably quieter. For American Game Devs, this likely means a 50% salary cut with 2x the taxes. If you think you'll make it up in benefits or lower cost of living, boy, do I have a bridge to sell you. But Europeans keep selling culture when the real selling point is financial! And it's a secret they don't even realize they have.
Nearly every Western European country has expert tax regimes. Sweden's version lets you exclude 25% of your income from tax for five years. Denmark, Finland, Spain, and the Netherlands run similar schemes, some of which push the benefit closer to 30% or include tons of deductibles. Most game developers meet the criteria without much drama, since it's such a specialized and unique field. Yet, recruiters rarely mention it, and I've never seen it in a job ad.
Then there's the pension stack. Europeans think of pensions as background noise; Americans think of them as a precious gemstone. In countries like Sweden, you get both a state pension you can eventually bring home and an employer pension that can amount to something around 30% of gross salary. You even get to choose from a menu of funds, letting savings compound. Ironically, it mirrors what George W. Bush once proposed for Social Security, yet we passed on fervent protest and outrage.
This pension stays with you even if you move back to America - take it from Swedish CEOs. They move to Portugal (~5% pension tax), draw down their occupational pension at 55 over five years, and then move back to Sweden. The Florida of Europe, Ladies and Gentlemen. Look, "work-life balance" is great, but "tax-advantaged comp vehicle with optional early withdrawal" is better.
If European studios want American talent, especially senior talent, stop burying the lede! Americans don't uproot their lives for cardboard straws and GDPR cookies. They move for upside, and somehow, bizarrely, Europe already offers it. Recruiters should lead with the tax break and the pension contributions, because these are the things that actually close the gap.
Put it in the job posts and say it on the first call. It's the simplest fix for a decades-long hiring problem: show Americans the money that's already on the table.