IGN Entertainment Reviews

But even with all the intelligence, a lot of people just are not motivated enough. Proactiveness is often lacking, and why shouldn't it? There's not much reward for doing great work (and great work is consistent). Some people do amazing work, and are never recognized for it, even over 5 years. Ziff Davis, the parent company, often touts IGN's high profit margins, but those profit margins come at the price of paying IGN's staff poorly, and not pursuing advancement for employees. I often heard from execs that, "You sacrifice wages, because it's IGN," meaning that IGN is apparently so much fun and so chill that it's okay to pay people less than competitors. If that were true, your staff wouldn't be leaving for Twitter, Facebook, Google, Twitch, CBS Interactive, Pandora, and other equally fun places that pay very well. During my extensive tenure, I was routinely told I needed to prove myself before any advancement is offered. I did, in fact, prove it on multiple occasions, but it did not seem to be enough. Eventually, I left for somewhere much more fun that paid much better for half the hours. The location isn't the best for those commuting via BART or subway, but it's good for those using Caltrain. It's right next to AT&T Park, so expect long commutes via car during games.

Very high school like atmosphere. No room for growth unless you can fit into the "in" group. -Not so much politics as you would find at a typical company, but judgement is given on how much you know about video games and the geek culture in general. If you don't know a ton about those things, you are pretty much looked at as a non-contributor and pretty much not given any chances at opportunities outside of what you are hired for. If you are a hard worker, there is no reward. If you go beyond the job title, there is no reward. Some of the people there talk and play games instead of work. These are the people that are given opportunities the most because they are socializing and talking about the geek culture which the "in" group loves. If you are the hard worker, you won't have time to socialize which means you have no opportunities. If you work overtime, some of the managers will see you pretty much alone in the office and walk right by you. No "thank you for staying late", no "I appreciate you working late" - nothing. This happened to me on several occasions. If they paid overtime, I would understand this, but they don't. It's salaried when you work full time there. They won't even comp you if you do work a lot of long days. There is so much turn over at this company, it will make your head spin. 20 people had left in the year I was there. It's VERY depressing to the employees that are there and IGN is not doing anything to try to fix their issues. They don't want to listen to the current employees so everyone talks about how awful it is there and it's just a poisonous environment to work in. I get so many texts asking if I know of any full time jobs so people can leave that place.