Great company - Designer Cold Iron Studios Employee Review

The people here were really great! They trusted me to do my job and were fairly hands off.

The people I worked most closely with are no longer there, so I can’t speak to the current management.

- Fully remote studio that has flexible working hours - Decent pay - No mandated overtime, although it is often required to hit ambitious targets - Positive "outward" company culture - Most employees are friendly, kind, and talented - fun to work with

- Mysterious private ownership that cannot be trusted to follow-through with any of its promises and will lay you off at a moment's notice if they decide to change strategy or feel you are not an enthusiastic and obedient worker - I was laid off suddenly, with no reason given for the decision. The initially offered less than 2 weeks of pay and healthcare as severance, then later altered that to 1 month - probably to cover themselves from legal action. - The studio leadership has changed 3 times in less than 1.5 years, the first founders left the company, the second set of leaders were all fired - With so much poaching, quitting, and lay offs, the average employee tenure at this point is probably 6-9 months for a nearly 8 year old studio. This is not a situation where there was a big lay off or exodus of staff and then the boat righted itself. There has been a continuous and constant shedding of staff for at least a year. It is still happening. - Because churn is so intense, there is virtually zero chemistry between employees on a practical level. No one has worked with each other for longer than a handful of months, teams don't know how to work with other teams or self-manage. The tracks are being laid just barely in front of the train and the train drivers have never conducted a train before. Most people in lead positions have not been leads before and lack managerial skills and experience. Most leads were promoted to the positions of their former managers after they were fired. - While the outward company culture is positive and bright, the fundamental actions at the core of management and ownership is cutthroat, toxic, and naïve. They will craft impossible goals and deadlines and punish you for missing targets, or potentially just for questioning your odds of success. The majority of the producers were fired at the beginning of 2024, every lead position has been fired and re-filled. If you work here now, good luck and keep looking for greener pastures. If you are thinking of working here, I would avoid it unless you desperately need an income after being laid off from somewhere else. - I will be surprised if the studio still exists in a year or if their next game comes out as planned