Pros
+Great, talented and hard-working people from all over the world. + Good for CV, people outside of industry are impressed to hear of someone working there. + Good pay for locals. Ex-pats get some bonuses to match western paychecks. + Cheery atmosphere on the work floors, people bringing snacks from trips, jokes etc. Active off-topic channels. + Free Gym, with a qualified trainer and a Multi-Sport card if someone wants to go swimming etc. to other places in the city. + Multiple lunch options: Sandwiches in the morning, breakfasts, vending machines, We have a vegan canteen and a REGULAR one just next to it. Food trucks on daily rotation if someone wants something different. No one goes hungry in CDP building. + Very cool parties organized by HR. + 20-26 paid leave days...
Cons
- ...but often trouble to find time for vacation. - Crunches for years. People staying for 10-12h/day and coming in on weekends, just so they can meet the required dates. And that's not during approved crunch. During "real" crunches some people tend to stay till 2 or 4 am, then show up next morning to do the same. After some time, the project is redesigned and a lot of effort goes into the bin, while new deadlines and design decisions make people shake their heads. Might be good for the game, but holy crap - where's the prototypes and preproduction? - Lack of decisions. Often we show multiple approaches, get some critique and go back to the drawing board without clear direction. Sometimes the critique is: "Make it cooler" or "Oh, I like this idea, can we implement this as a new system". People are scared to be creative, as someone from the management might see a feature and wish it to be implemented into the game, without giving more time to do so. - Lack of pro-active HR. You really have to have a breakdown or turn into a fish for someone to notice and set up a quick meeting. Promises of keeping an eye out are just promises. - Multiple leads changes in a short time. - As Seniors and Leads disappear, plan is to replace them with 2-3 Juniors, expecting them to do the same job. Can't really complain as i suspect that's how i got in, thrown into deep water [good exercise though].
