ArenaNet Reviews

Pros

a somewhat good work environment

Cons

short contract with no hopes of becoming a permanent member

Pros

Great people, highly collaborative, multiple projects being worked on.

Cons

Lots of canceled projects & layoffs- they have a hard time getting new projects to survive for more than a year or two. Existing/Live products were less impacted by these cancellations and layoffs.

Pros

i have a really good balance in work and life

Cons

really depends on the team you're on

Pros

- Work life balance is great. - The company and management REALLY does seem to care about employee well-being. We are occasionally granted mental health days studio-wide which I've never seen before and it's very appreciated. - The current day-to-day studio management may be the best it has been in many years. They actually hold people accountable, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement.

Cons

Benefits and compensation are around the average or lower in the Seattle area. Growth opportunities are hit and miss. There's a tribalism in this studio that often gets in the way of progress. The D&I group at this studio is unregulated and absolutely out of control. They engage in frequent misguided witch-hunting behaviors and lack the self-awareness to see they are becoming the monster they believe they're fighting. Couple that with an embedded tribal belief system instilled through years of spineless management and lack of oversight and you have a deep-seated cultural problem festering below the surface. ArenaNet's parent company NCSoft is incompetent in understanding the Western games business. They've canceled countless internal projects over the years which is why this ANet has never released anything not named Guild Wars. Take a moment to look at the c-suite. Very few of them are anywhere near qualified enough to run a company let alone a video game company where they have (sometimes literally) zero experience in the industry. It constantly shows in how they decide to invest their dollars, resources, and provide overarching guidance to ANet.

Pros

-people -team -work -events The company has an amazing office and I loved my team

Cons

-pay -vesting of profit-sharing -career growth once you were in a position...its like they forgot about you and didnt think you were capable of doing anything else

Pros

Upon hire, flexible, unlimited sick time, mental health focused, burn out focused, employee care focused, this was pre-pandemic. Teammates, other IC's , some managers. Marketed as a career during interview, and year one.

Cons

After Re-org, majority of quality of life benefits are lost, pointed towards the policy and handbook. Go elsewhere for more money. Does not invest in the future of employee. Just a job, not a career.

Pros

Great benefits, great work-life balance, great supportive people across the board, both in terms of personality, and talent.

Cons

The compensation packages are not as competitive as they might be elsewhere. The studio has also struggled to release anything outside of Guild Wars 2 content (which they do a damn good job with) for a long time, so it can be very frustrating to be working on one of the studio's other initiatives.

Pros

Extremely good work/life balance. Very employee oriented.

Cons

Pay is on the low end for the industry, but not terrible.

Pros

Very good environment for an artist to stretch their wings and learn. Excellent snack room. Everyone is extremely friendly. Good amount of PTO. Respect for work life balance.

Cons

It has been some time since I was there so things could have changed significantly but at the time of my employment the studio leadership seemed very conflicted about what direction they wanted to head. This lead to many shifts and blows to team morale. Thought it seems may have changed so I’d take that with a grain of salt. Also definitely on the lower end of salary/compensation.

Pros

Best working environment and people to work with

Cons

I have no cons to share XD