Raging Spaniard
If they are Dutch, upright and breathing they are more racist than your favorite player
This probably wont end well, but here we go.
I think Red Dead 2 will be an incredible game. Unfortunately, as we have heard of other AAA work environments, the employees suffer a great deal in order to bring you quality of this degree, most of the time it is not done by choice.
If youre not familiar with Glassdoor, its a website where employees can leave feedback on studios they work at. Its a fairly reliable tool (some outliers here and there, as with most review based sites). Game Developers certainly use it before they consider their next move, I know I have.
Rockstar San Diego, where RDR 2 is being made, has some of the worst ratings Ive seen on the site:
Plenty more where that came from, but I think the point is well made. Some will argue that its easy to put up "fake reviews" in the site, and while that its true you can also see a pattern emerging in these reviews. They are numerous and talk about the same issues but all use a different, distinct voice. This makes them far more credible.
Bonus Edit. If you still don't want to believe Glassdoor, thats fine. Statements from other people in this very thread:
Now, hey, if you decide not to care about this, I cant blame you! Lots of people don't want to know how the sausage is made and I totally get that, no judgement here. However for me personally I have reached a point in my life where I want to at least be aware of who I am giving my dollars to and make better choices in which companies I support.
And by the way, its not like their way of doing business is justifiable. Take Two is doing incredible business for themselves and could afford to keep employees around and not do sudden layoffs on release or at any point, really.
From their 2016 earnings report:
This is their culture, plain and simple and they are hoping you don't notice. I don't have a problem with an employee willing to give 150% of themselves to their craft, however, long term crunch (year plus!) is well documented to not work and its usually forced upon your younger hires, who still have passion and drive for this industry. I am a 10 year vet in Game Development and here in the Bay Area you mostly meet people in their mid 30's who got the hell out of AAA gaming as fast as they could or quit making games altogether because of working conditions such as this one.
As a game developer, I wont be supporting such blatant examples of abuse in a company that should be a leading example on how to treat their employees. Maybe after reading this you will still buy their game, but at least now you know the real cost.
EDIT: Because people think we were born yesterday, every page has about 3 posts like this:
Yes, we know, no need to point it out and act like its big news. We are talking about a software company operating in the US that has no excuse to treat their employees the way they do, and it affects me personally because these are my neighbors and potential coworkers.
I think Red Dead 2 will be an incredible game. Unfortunately, as we have heard of other AAA work environments, the employees suffer a great deal in order to bring you quality of this degree, most of the time it is not done by choice.
If youre not familiar with Glassdoor, its a website where employees can leave feedback on studios they work at. Its a fairly reliable tool (some outliers here and there, as with most review based sites). Game Developers certainly use it before they consider their next move, I know I have.
Rockstar San Diego, where RDR 2 is being made, has some of the worst ratings Ive seen on the site:
Plenty more where that came from, but I think the point is well made. Some will argue that its easy to put up "fake reviews" in the site, and while that its true you can also see a pattern emerging in these reviews. They are numerous and talk about the same issues but all use a different, distinct voice. This makes them far more credible.
Bonus Edit. If you still don't want to believe Glassdoor, thats fine. Statements from other people in this very thread:
Now, hey, if you decide not to care about this, I cant blame you! Lots of people don't want to know how the sausage is made and I totally get that, no judgement here. However for me personally I have reached a point in my life where I want to at least be aware of who I am giving my dollars to and make better choices in which companies I support.
And by the way, its not like their way of doing business is justifiable. Take Two is doing incredible business for themselves and could afford to keep employees around and not do sudden layoffs on release or at any point, really.
From their 2016 earnings report:
- 1.3 Billion in cash and short term investments
- 700 Million digital net revenue
This is their culture, plain and simple and they are hoping you don't notice. I don't have a problem with an employee willing to give 150% of themselves to their craft, however, long term crunch (year plus!) is well documented to not work and its usually forced upon your younger hires, who still have passion and drive for this industry. I am a 10 year vet in Game Development and here in the Bay Area you mostly meet people in their mid 30's who got the hell out of AAA gaming as fast as they could or quit making games altogether because of working conditions such as this one.
As a game developer, I wont be supporting such blatant examples of abuse in a company that should be a leading example on how to treat their employees. Maybe after reading this you will still buy their game, but at least now you know the real cost.
EDIT: Because people think we were born yesterday, every page has about 3 posts like this:
Yes, we know, no need to point it out and act like its big news. We are talking about a software company operating in the US that has no excuse to treat their employees the way they do, and it affects me personally because these are my neighbors and potential coworkers.
