Working in a gaming company as a 3d modeller.

Epic and bunguie are biggest

It depends on the country you live in, some pay poorly, some pay fairly well. In Australia for example the pay rate for artists is quite high compared to the standard wage within the country. In USA it depends on the company hiring, some of the major development teams pay really well but they're also looking for very highly talented artists even at the lower end of the chain.

3dartisan is pretty right in that you don't want to go into the games industry as an artist for the money or job security. In most cases the lower end of the development team are only there on a per project basis in many cases, even if they stand out, they will be let go for someone else in a different project. When applying to work for a development team or a company (there is a difference), you have to ensure that the development team you will be working for within that company is one that produces games consistently, that has more chances to provide a longer job security then say a developer who plans to release one game and won't make another.

There are ways to succeed in the gaming industry as my company has achieved for the lower end of the artistic pool but it takes a lot of dedication from the artists and most of them I'm afraid are in it to get rich quick, and that will get you nowhere. If you're interested in getting in the games industry, send me a private message, I'll give you some info that might be of great interest to you.

The pay for a junior grade artist is very poor. It gets better with seniority, but it's usually less than equivalent level coders. Lead artists get a reasonable wage, but nothing spectacular. The pressure on artist pay is downward, because it's simple to outsource the art to the 3rd world and get it very cheaply. Don't go into games art for the money/job security, as you will be disappointed,

I heard they earn lots of money in game companies