play hard and work really hard - Software Engineer 2K Employee Review

2.0
Jan 14, 2009
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

This game studio has a lot of people who love sports and care about making good video games. This is a great place to start for young engineers or anybody who has a very little programming experiences. You will start implement game features as soon as you become familiar with their tools and systems. Engineers are laid back and very relaxed. Most engineers I know do not like to crunch everything in 8 hours. The studio has a flexible hour policy. You can show up anytime you want to as long as you finish your work and bugs. There are people who are gaming during working hours, or playing basketball during lunch hours. People here are definitely not stressful and really fun to be around. There are many engineers who just like what they are doing. They take pride of their works and spend many hours working on their projects.

Cons

I think the studio's culture does not encourage engineers to think outside-the-box or get system design right at the first place. It seems to me that people here are too sloppy and not being efficient at work. Many young engineers who hope to learn something will be disappointed. The senior manager is too busy to care about your career growth. There is no formal training, no formal document. Yes, No spoon feeding! They are trying to have Wiki server, but nobody really cares. Their lack of technical managers is also a major problem here. Most intermediate managers have very little technical knowledge. We call them as a "producer". Producers usually take orders from the senior manager and try to push engineers to do whatever their boss wants. Engineers have to be a good negotiator so that they don't have to implement everything their producers come up a week before alpha date. In my opinion, intermediate managers ( aka. producers ) really need some formal training before start their jobs. They need to know the proper way to manage engineers. I saw many engineers have fierce arguments with their producers. I was lucky that I got along with my producers and had very little conflicts. And just like other game studios, their compensation is lower than average compared to other software industries.

Explore other reviews about 2K

5.0
Nov 19, 2025
Anonymous contractor
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

My team and colleagues were great, everyone in office is friendly

Cons

Some teams and departments are siloed

1.0
May 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Congratulations on joining an IT department sustained primarily by optimism and certificates whose expiration dates invite reflection. Tickets enter a triage process best described as ceremonial — acknowledged warmly, processed philosophically, resolved at the discretion of the universe. Infrastructure decisions suggest a confident autodidactic energy that formal training might have tempered. Your recommendations will be received, appreciated verbally, and composted with dignity. The company charges a premium for its products and charges again for the remainder of them, which is either visionary pricing strategy or a personality trait depending on your tolerance. The gaming chairs are ambitious. The retention numbers are instructive

Cons

• Your labor props up a machine that monetizes joy incrementally until joy is gone • Every unresolved ticket is a monument to institutional indifference • Heidegger called it thrownness — you were thrown here specifically • The infrastructure will outlive your dignity but not your burnout • Mark Fisher already described this place in Capitalist Realism and did not recommend it • You will achieve nothing that compounds • The servers go down. You stay down longer.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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