MachineGames Reviews

3.9

72% would recommend to a friend

(13 total reviews)

63% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

13 reviews
1.0
14 Dec 2024

People were removed from the game credits

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendly and talented teammates, good brands.

Cons

Everyone that left the company before the release date of Indiana Jones got removed from the regular game credits and put as "Additional Contributions" on a foot note, without any of their job titles. Punished, creating a toxic culture of trying to keep people from leaving. Ironic that the first name in the credits and the public face is Todd Howard, when he is not even part of the studio or the day to day development. These people on "Additional Contributions" in Indiana Jones did mandatory crunch for extended periods, late nights, early mornings, weekends. I was asked for new tasks 20 minutes before the time of my resignation deadline, in which HR escorted me out of the building. Using vacation days was locked during these periods of time. Leadership broke their word on hybrid conditions and enforced full time return to office. Of course, overtime compensation is done in additional vacation days that, since they cannot be used until release or cashed out if you resign, is again another tool to punish you if you leave. 6 month non compete contract clause that forbids you to take another job with the rest of the industry, because a judge shut them down back in the day when MachineGames tried to enforce a 2 year non-compete clause. Look into the legal history of the company, they have sued ex-employees. Funny that they are so careful about non-competes and talent poaching, as MachineGames was created literally that way with people from Starbreeze. Nowadays they keep that clause as a bargaining chip so that people remain for the 3 months resignation period, in exchange for the company letting you have another job. Until your last day, you will always have the fear that they have the power to destroy your career future at any moment without a second thought. Mediocre salaries, and living in Uppsala is like being the protagonist of Groundhog Day. You will feel like a cog in the machine. If you join, have an exit date in mind, because your brain will slowly turn to mush as time passes.

2.0
19 Dec 2024

Leadership Problems, yet Amazing Teammates

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Great and Passionate Teammates: The team is made up of talented and dedicated professionals who genuinely care about their work. It is inspiring to work with them, and you can grow professionally by observing their diligence and creativity; - Interesting Projects with Creative Challenges: The projects are ambitious and rewarding, providing unique challenges that require out-of-the-box thinking. The tools used in the work are usually well-designed and user-friendly, which makes the workflow smoother; - Creative Atmosphere (Early Project Stages): The atmosphere is especially pleasant in the initial stages of development, ideas flow freely, and collaboration is easy and productive. - Open Door Policy: The shared work environment allows you to approach almost anyone, including management, to discuss ideas or problems. Although you do not always feel heard, the willingness to engage in dialogue is a plus in itself; - Well-Suited Office Space: The office is modern and well-equipped, offering a comfortable and functional work environment, as well as areas for relaxation.

Cons

- Promotion Criteria: Lack of transparency and consistency. Managers may promise promotions only to later shift the narrative, citing vague reasons like "not feeling the company." Proactive problem solving sometimes results in mixed feedback: either you're not involving producers enough or you're involving them too much. Constructive criticism of management decisions is often perceived as a threat to your career; - Conflict Avoidance by Leadership: Some managers prefer to avoid directly communicating problems and instead attribute their concerns to unnamed colleagues, which creates unnecessary tension; - Micromanagement: Instead of normal stand-ups, daily morning and evening reports are required (in a form of a short message in the group channels). Being late or missing these reports can lead to increased scrutiny from management. Some employees are subject to unfair control, which creates a feeling of constant surveillance; - Unpaid Crunch Time: Early stages of a project often lack planning, and problems accumulate until crunch begins. This leads to late unpaid overtime, which sometimes cannot even be fully compensated by additional vacation days. Relying on a last minute "magic" creates an extremely stressful environment; - Task Management: Task distribution is poorly organized. Some employees are left without clear assignments, because "seniors don't need tasks"; - Credits Policy: Employees who left the company before the release, even if they have been working on the project for several years, are listed in the "Additional Contributors" section without their proper job titles, which seems unfair and devalues ​​their contribution.

4.0
6 Nov 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Talented people - Nice culture with people from varied walks of life -Good leadership and competent management / producers. They listen to input mostly. -Nice HR staff who help you out when you need them, generally very approachable - Decent Pay & so far a decent yearly bonus - Zenimax Games given as a perk - Yearly salary review is okay, not great but not bad either - Fika breaks every Wednesday - Nice office events to celebrate Christmas, game releases and other events of note -Flexible with work hours outside of shipping periods -Flexible with paid time off in general -The company trusts you to make up your own hours should you need to step out for personal errands -MachineGames has a great relationship with Zenimax's studios (i.e. Bethesda, Arkane, iD etc), leading to opportunities to work on their games too. -ZMI Offers internal transfers to other studios, though this is rare to happen -Overall very high quality projects -Employee growth is encouraged and reasonably well supported -Great place to meet and connect with professionals of every level across the globe due to the studio being a part of ZMI -Nice office with great equipment -Uppsala is a nice middle sized city with plenty of amenities. Train to Stockholm takes about 40 minutes to an hour if you want to visit

Cons

-Some degree of crunch as projects seem to be planned rather tightly -Overtime is not compensated in full "we can only offer half in compensation time, sorry" -Uppsala as a location close enough to Stockholm means housing is both hard to find and (very) expensive

Viewing 1 - 3 of 13 Reviews

Glassdoor has 14 MachineGames reviews submitted anonymously by MachineGames employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if MachineGames is right for you.