Is it worth for a 27 yo game artist to move from Moscow to Katowice?

Hello, guys.

I am 27, single female, work as a lead 2D artist in second biggest Russian game development company in Moscow. This means I draw in Photoshop for iPad games. I have a 3,5 years working experience in game development and 2 of them are in position of lead artist.

I have a job offer to become a lead artist in Polish company. I am still negotiating about my salary but I hope it'll be 8-10K PLN per month netto. Even 8K will be good because it's almost the same that I have at home but I've read that Poland is much cheaper (well, even life in Munich is cheaper than in Moscow).

My salary in Moscow is about 1700 euros per month now (used to be 2300 at the beginning of the year but Russian money is awfully cheap now). I don't pay rent here.

I am really interested in moving to the EU because of 1) my job 2) Running away from all that is happening now in my home country. There's only one company in Russia that is bigger and more interesting than the one where I'm working now and I don't want to work there because of reasons :)

Also I'm looking forward to work in AAA project in a couple of years and it's impossible in Russia.
My dream is Berlin but at the moment it is really very hard to find a job for a Russian person in the EU because of all that political stuff. Also there're a lot of visa issues and other great artists in EU - and that won't let me find job in Germany at the moment.

But Katowice is in EU and I find it a good start for me to move to EU. I've read that it's an ugly and cold city and it's ok for me because Moscow is ugly and cold too. And also expensive and overcrowded.

Is moving from Moscow to Katowice worth it?

won't you miss your home country and being able to speak to everybody in your mother tongue? life of an immigrant is not that bright I think - there is a price to pay for the money you earn -

That's why I'm hesitating and writing here :). I don't have a lot of friends here and don't go out often, I prefer to stay on my own. And sometimes I use skype to drink with my friends because we're too lazy to go outside. Or because a friend lives in another city. But I know that I can see them in real life almost whenever I want. It wont be so easy if I live in another country.

well you set your priorities - if your priority is a career than you can well consider coming to Poland

In South Poland you can find IT companies - both enterprise and game studios mostly in Kraków and Wrocław. Katowice is gaining on them but it's still not there. In terms of living in the city - Katowice is behind, not a lot of old nice buildings, places to visit and cultural events. Definitely not so many foreigners as in Kraków and Wrocław. On the other hand Katowice is much cheaper in terms of house prices/rent, price of living. 8-10K is a very good salary for any big city. And as for foreigners, from my experience there's many more Ukrainians than Russians around here. Katowice is also growing up to be a bit of a Polish center of competitive computer games, there's a big annual event called IEM in March.

You're in a good spot - it doesn't sound like you have set your roots very deep, so coming back is always an option. And being in IT it is very easy to move around at least until you settle down.

Hmm 8k in Katowice is preety nice salary.

Here in Warsaw, I every day hear a Russian/Ukraininian language :)

Maybe this little help numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Poland&city=Katowice

I would say that you should rather wait now cuz some Polish people might be ... you know like Germans, British now because Ukrainian-russian war.

Polish people won't recognized a Russians from Ukrainians or Moldovans, what does it have to do to anything war related.

If you think that this game company from Katowice is better than your current 2nd largest Russian then it has sense to move. When it is about prices, instead of moving to cheap Katowice you can just wait for RUB to become even cheaper and Moscow will be as cheap as Warsaw. Why do you think that this job will give you later bigger chances for work in Westerneuropean game industry? You will need work permit as you need now. Only adventage will be closer distance for the Interview.

I would definitely move... With that kind of pay you can lead a veeery comfortable life in Katowice, or a comfortable one while saving half of your salary. The IT industry is currently booming in Poland, and from what I have heard there are many companies specializing in producing games, so there will always be room for growth and improvement. Some say that Katowice is an ugly city, but you have to remember that it is a part of the so called GOP region, one of the economic centers of Poland with over 2m+ inhabitants. There are also many projects (thanks to EU) concentrated on improving quality of life in the region. It is also very close to other places worth seeing (Krakow, Tatry Mountains, Wroclaw, Czech Republic etc.) and a trip to Berlin is literally a matter of hours. I guess it would be safe to say that you could check whether life in another country works out for you with this kind of opportunity in Poland - it has more or less a similar culture to Russia and other Slavic countries, and the language has similarities enabling you to learn it faster. If it is not what you are looking for you can easily go back. Also, if you were worried about what Polish people think about Russians nowadays - from my experience the issue is non existent on a "people's level". I have never heard people here saying bad things about Russian people, only about the politicians and their decisions.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

I live in Katowice and with that wage you'll live like a King.
Kato ain't Paris though, but on the bright side, Krakow is only 45mins away by car and Wroclaw aint far. Sure, even Berlin isn't really all that far either.

I can tell you though, wait until Spring to move. Polish cities are incredibly boring places to live in during the winter months. Very few events, even very few people venture out over the weekends.

But it all bursts back into life in the Spring and the summer here is great. Kato has 2 really fantastic music festivals during the summer and loads of cultural events too.

search for this inyourpocket.com/poland/Katowice