Ready at Dawn is a studio that makes you feel like you're part of the family. The team works together closely and thankfully, they're a great group. If you are a team player looking to set the standards of what it means to make a great game for VR, this is the place for you.
Excellent development team culture, lots of comradery and passionate. Not too crunch-oriented, very diverse and inclusive. Free work gym courtesy of the Irvine Company, a fully stocked kitchen, and a relatively relaxed PTO/sick time expectation.
Cons
Lower than average pay, even for the games industry. Communication between production and the dev team can be strenuous and at times absent. Lots of growing pains between departments.
-Tight-knit Team with Excellent Rapport. Strives for greatness, despite problems with management. Never been easier to find friends at a workplace.
-Excellent Compensation
-Easy workload
-CEO is very easy to talk to, even if other managers are not.
Cons
-Creative Leadership are Unfortunately Cynical and Business-Minded, will not rise to meet your enthusiasm, seek out input, or strive for improvement. Managers were also decidedly passive aggressive and uninterested, especially during exit interviews, and tried to shift blame onto me, instead of rising to meet the issues they were presented with. This is problematic for managers who are close friends with one another, most of whom face no threat of termination and will never choose leave the studio.
-Disconnected Pipeline, Unclear Direction, and Arbitrary and Enigmatic Decision-Making. It's easier to keep your head down and listen to instructions on a micro scale than try to collaborate on the big picture. Your input will not be sought out, and unless you create friction by protesting leadership, your expertise will not be heard. At times, you will feel like a reluctant tool, and not a collaborator. Not a healthy place for creatives.
-Too relaxed; everyone will spin their wheels trying to communicate through disjointed pipelines, and by the time work needs to ramp up, nobody has any kind of plan or logic to follow to the finish.
-Culture is clique-oriented, for better and for worse. Some joking goes on behind other's backs, and there's a clear lack of transparency between seniors; work will often be ignored or omitted without proper conversation. Clique culture makes accepting other voices more difficult, people working through cultural and language barriers are often ignored or unheard.
-I inquired about a leadership position with the hopes of solving some of the issues above, but was discouraged based on the assumption that I was only interested in having more control. The conversation was embarrassing for me, and cast a lot of doubts with leadership.
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Employee Review
A Great Place To Work
Nov 1, 2021 - Senior Vfx ArtistPros
Ready at Dawn is a studio that makes you feel like you're part of the family. The team works together closely and thankfully, they're a great group. If you are a team player looking to set the standards of what it means to make a great game for VR, this is the place for you.
Cons
VR Development isn't for everyone.
Other Employee Reviews
Really friendly development culture
Apr 7, 2020 - QA Analyst in Irvine, CAPros
Excellent development team culture, lots of comradery and passionate. Not too crunch-oriented, very diverse and inclusive. Free work gym courtesy of the Irvine Company, a fully stocked kitchen, and a relatively relaxed PTO/sick time expectation.
Cons
Lower than average pay, even for the games industry. Communication between production and the dev team can be strenuous and at times absent. Lots of growing pains between departments.
+ Strong Team - Leadership is Irresponsible, and Losing Creative Spark
Sep 19, 2021 - Game ArtistPros
-Tight-knit Team with Excellent Rapport. Strives for greatness, despite problems with management. Never been easier to find friends at a workplace. -Excellent Compensation -Easy workload -CEO is very easy to talk to, even if other managers are not.
Cons
-Creative Leadership are Unfortunately Cynical and Business-Minded, will not rise to meet your enthusiasm, seek out input, or strive for improvement. Managers were also decidedly passive aggressive and uninterested, especially during exit interviews, and tried to shift blame onto me, instead of rising to meet the issues they were presented with. This is problematic for managers who are close friends with one another, most of whom face no threat of termination and will never choose leave the studio. -Disconnected Pipeline, Unclear Direction, and Arbitrary and Enigmatic Decision-Making. It's easier to keep your head down and listen to instructions on a micro scale than try to collaborate on the big picture. Your input will not be sought out, and unless you create friction by protesting leadership, your expertise will not be heard. At times, you will feel like a reluctant tool, and not a collaborator. Not a healthy place for creatives. -Too relaxed; everyone will spin their wheels trying to communicate through disjointed pipelines, and by the time work needs to ramp up, nobody has any kind of plan or logic to follow to the finish. -Culture is clique-oriented, for better and for worse. Some joking goes on behind other's backs, and there's a clear lack of transparency between seniors; work will often be ignored or omitted without proper conversation. Clique culture makes accepting other voices more difficult, people working through cultural and language barriers are often ignored or unheard. -I inquired about a leadership position with the hopes of solving some of the issues above, but was discouraged based on the assumption that I was only interested in having more control. The conversation was embarrassing for me, and cast a lot of doubts with leadership.
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