What's it like to work for Blizzard
lesda — Tue, 12/16/2008 - 13:21
There are jobs where you play games all day. And then there are jobs at Blizzard.
At the company, employees are encouraged to play Blizzard games, plus the competition’s, and Blizzard provides serious PC hardware to do so.
“It’s not frowned upon to play games here. We want to know what’s great about the games here and we encourage people to play other games. And we provide systems capable enough to play games,” said Paul Sams, Blizzard’s chief operating officer.
That’s just the start of it.
I spoke (again) with Blizzard’s Sams because his company was ranked as one of the best places to work in Orange County, as voted by employees. He could not stop offering examples of what it’s like to work at the company.
Valet parking, free car washes, subsidized meals … and the coolest thing: a full-sized sword on an employee’s 5-year anniversary (like the one below, courtesy of a 5-year Blizzard employee). The sword is different every year so it’s not like Blizzard had a bunch made and then slap on a name tag each year.
If you want to read more about the perks of working at Blizzard — and why its employees voted the company as one of the best places to work in Orange County, read the story, “At Blizzard, it’s free swag, valet parking and playing games all day.”
Other good morsels that didn’t make it into the print version of the story:
- The commuting program has a 6-figure rewards budget. Each quarter, participants get prizes and 75 percent of commuters win something — including $500 gift certificates. Part of the program includes a guaranteed ride home in case something happens to your carpool buddy.
- Regular Guitar Hero contests to blow off steam (I didn’t ask if this was before Activision bought Blizzard).
- And did I mention the big holiday party? It’s tonight. I can’t wait for details!
I wonder if Blizzard gives out swords to reporters who cover the company after five years?
Read: ”At Blizzard, it’s free swag, valet parking and playing games all day.”
That sounds unbelievably
Adwarflol — Tue, 12/16/2008 - 14:10That sounds unbelievably awesome. xD
The two people I know who
Ewiges — Sat, 12/20/2008 - 04:06The two people I know who work there, one is a GM and the other says he can't tell me do to contract, are both heavy loaded. Overtime should be renamed for them. I don't even know what the guy does, but he only has one free night a week, hangs out a bit, then catches up on sleep.
I need to offer a
Tankard — Tue, 12/16/2008 - 14:04I need to offer a counterpoint to this since I write games and I'm familiar with the industry. In general, the game industry is brutal. There are thousands of applicants for every position and once you're in, you find it isn't what you were expecting it to be. 85% of people entering the game industry leave it within 2 years. I honestly don't know what Blizzards turnover rate is and I doubt it is that high, but 50% wouldn't surprise me.
There are several issues. The first and foremost is pressure. Game titles are on strict budgets and even stricter time schedules and the complexity of the programming and artwork in todays games make them into a production that rivals many movie productions. It isn't unusual for employees to be working 60-80 hour weeks just to hit deadlines.
The second issue is creative input. There are only a handful of people on a given project that have the authority or power to modify game play. The vast majority of workers never get to have any creative input. They are given a task like "implement the code for the trade window - here's the specs". That assignment could take weeks to do btw, there are TONS of potential problems and exploits with trading.
Another issue is pay. The game industry pays about 20-30% less than equivalent jobs outside the game industry. They can do so because of all the people that want in so badly. Supply and demand.
Blizzard has enough cash flow to be different than the rest of the game industry. They are also their own publisher so they aren't being held hostage by an external one (which is frequently true). So, it's possible that it truly is a great place to work, but I'd keep your eyes open and make sure you know exactly what you're getting into if you decide to pursue a job there.
When my friend started, this
Fjork — Tue, 12/16/2008 - 13:35When my friend started, this was in his welcome packets: