RealNetworks Reviews

Former Employee – worked at RealNetworks full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – - Great people to work with, very smart
- Interesting and technically challenging work
- Opportunities for advancement (see cons)

Cons – - Senior leadership continually plays catch-up with competition
- Strategic decisions made from the catch-up position are reactionary and desperate
- Lots of churn from good people trying to make a better culture, then leaving for a company with healthier leadership (creating opportunity for advancement for those that are left)

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at RealNetworks full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Unrivaled chance to gain the experiences that will serve you well in your future endeavors. If you are up to the challenges, you can thrive. If you aren't, you will probably not last long.

Cons – Chaos and dysfunction reign (not always a bad thing). The wrong people get promoted and the good people leave or get laid off, but there are islands of opportunity.

Advice to Senior Management – Shut the upper management revolving door. Hire some executives that actually care more about the company than their personal enrichment.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at RealNetworks full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great people and international teamwork with an environment of collaborative innovation

Cons – Progress is sometimes stifled by process

Advice to Senior Management – Keep streamlining process to maximize creativity and productivity

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at RealNetworks full-time for more than 8 years

Pros – There of tons of options here, whether you want to develop typical software, build and support services, IT, or games. Lots of options. The company does a reasonable amount of charitable giving.

Cons – The environment can be pretty caustic. Most of the great talent from the earlier days of the company is gone. The company goes through small-medium sized layoffs a couple times a year, and this has been going on for the past decade. It really doesn't seem to be able to pick its direction, and as such that direction changes every couple of years.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at RealNetworks full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Free soda
Good case study for how to blow a few hundred million quickly
I had a very comfortable chair
We got to play lazer tag once

Cons – General lack of industry knowledge from directors on up
Too many employees, too little projects
Horrible salaries
No direction on anything, ever!
Super low moral (brutally low...)

Advice to Senior Management – Recruit better employees, raise salaries, get rid of directors who should be working at a bank or the government...not a top level entertainment company.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at RealNetworks full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great people, great overall management style -- no excessive micro management.

Cons – morale is low, constant threat of layoffs every year, budget is so tight there is such penny crunching that raises are bypassed for an entire year

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at RealNetworks full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – The people are great to work with. Many long timers. Company has lots of cash in the bank.

Cons – The company lacks innovation and forward thinking. It seems that RN is always one or two steps behind the competition when getting new products out the door. Groups are very "top heavy", meaning too much management, not enough worker bees.

Advice to Senior Management – Become more agile.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at RealNetworks full-time for more than a year

Pros – good life work balance - because essentially there is nothing much going on anyway.

Cons – no directions things take ages to take a decision on...

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at RealNetworks full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Good location, plenty of nearby coffee options

Cons – Depressing culture, the CEO position has been a revolving door for years

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at RealNetworks full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – If you can create the right niche for yourself, you can get a lot done.

Cons – Top down management, employees not empowered, operationally weak

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend