Goodgame Studios Employee Reviews about "colleagues good"

Pros

-Good offices -Good colleagues, -Good work/life balance, at least when you stop giving a damn -

Cons

-Horrible culture, unexistant leadership -Constant power pyramid looming over your work -Politics abound, bad decisions overstressing the immense talent they have acquired.

Pros

Friendly colleagues, good benefits, regular team events

Cons

Low salary, noisy office location

Pros

Young, ambitious and very fast growing company with a really good work atmosphere and very friendly colleagues. Opportunity to work very independently and creatively, which is great, particularly if it is your first job. Tasks are challenging, but everyone is very supportive and it allows you to grow professionally as well as personally. People appreciate your work, which is quite important. Another reason why everyone is very motivated is that the company is scaling up so quickly and successfully. There is a really good vibe going on in general. They also have great benefits including free organic fruit and quarterly company parties. Games are also very fun :).

Cons

Nothing really :). Wages aren't thaaaat great, but the office culture and the job itself definitely make up for it.

Pros

nice environment and good colleagues

Cons

not so much time to do things properly, poor planning

Pros

Good colleagues who create a fun and interesting environment. Professional workfkow - great for teaching discipline

Cons

Management has no clue. Too much micro management and no trust in individuals expertise.

Pros

- Free beers - good Colleagues - good work environment

Cons

- the company fired more than 600 people and give them one week to go cause of c-levels mistakes - the c-levels are just buch of buddies who know nothing about managment .u wil feel that the company managemnt by kids - culture of hiring of firing - the oldest people ( who hired in the begining of the company ) are not quified at all , they cant do their job .u feel like u are hired as expert . what even more funny they taking lead positions

Pros

I had a great time overall. Fantastic colleagues, excellent boss, learned a lot, good work life balance, good opportunities for growth. I understand the spin off, New Moon, remains an excellent place to work, with great leadership. Hamburg is a wonderful place to live.

Cons

C-level made a lot of crazy bad decisions. Growing way too fast (over 1200 people on just two several year old solid games' revenues), spreading too thin without expertise, hiring too junior, not selling up when they should have (and now it's too late), giving way too much power to one hit wonders in the company who failed over and over to reproduce. Like the Roman Empire, this led to a miserable couple of years where they downsized 75% of the staff, and naturally most good people jumped off the ship. Graveyard now. Still, when it was good it was great and my ratings reflect the overall experience, not just the end. Pay pretty weak for Hamburg, but hey, that's gaming.

Pros

- Some benefits are nice (not the shared pool though, which is just a HR marketing tool) - Team spirit between colleagues is good in many departments

Cons

- Delusional management who made, and continue to make, one basic error after the next - When I say management, this is effectively the CEO, as the rest of the (under-experienced, but ego-inflated) leadership just nod off whatever he says - Middle management is mostly hired externally, many of whom lack any relevant skills and contribute to an unproductive work environment by sucking up to their superiors and keeping their team members down - Accordingly, hardly any career or even training opportunities for the majority of employees - Some departments are so politics-ridden and/or entangled in nepotism that the turnover rate is through the roof - Hired way too many people for way too many projects without any strategical direction or even common sense. The mass layoffs that happened recently were not surprising in the least for anyone in the industry.

Pros

The people – as already highlighted in the large majority of the Glassdoor comments, this (non-gaming) company has, is and will be carried until its inevitable downfall, by its predominantly superb and dedicated workforce. Seldom, I came across so many friendly and cooperative colleagues, as during my time at Goodgame. It is a true disaster, that those hardworking people now face a situation – just google “Goodgame mass layoffs”- that they were trying to thwart, but were pushed into by a bunch of C-level amateurs and their longtime loyalists. Those yes-man are also the only exception to my overall very positive view of the staff. Please refer to the ‘Cons’ section to get a better understanding, why those people effectively should never be hired in a senior or lead position by any other gaming company or any company. Period.

Cons

The top management – I had more than enough ‘close encounters’ with representatives of the C-level to form a very clear picture. Similar to Richard Dreyfuss character in the Spielberg classic, I sometimes could not believe what I was experiencing during some of the executive meetings. Unworldly comments, mixed with grandiose delusions, a general aversion to decision making and garnished with an inability to accept mistakes on top. If there are any decisions, then they are based solely on a ‘flavor of the week’ approach. Fancy an example? “A particular competitor’s monetization approach is often mentioned in the industry news during the last couple of weeks. Let’s rip-off its monetization strategy with our products, even though it does not fit to our original game concept(s). Let’s not think about the consequences that this decision has on the overall production, as we have no clue what it takes to develop a GOOD game.” This activity for activity's sake distinguishes the “management style” of the c-level’s inner most circle on a daily basis. There is no mid-term to long-term strategic thinking, just a limping dog chasing fast cars. In general, the company founders are clearly entrepreneurs from a wealthy background, who without taking any risks in life, stumbled upon a (well-copied) one-hit wonder that they are unable to replicate. In their inability to change with the times, social or ethical responsibilities for their staff are just footnotes. Instead of following a more prudent growth strategy, in their distorted goal “to be the world’s biggest gaming company by 2020” they went on a hiring frenzy. And the deceived staff that travelled from across the globe to be part of this dream that turned into a nightmare, are the ones who have to pay for this vanity move. If at least all those talented experts, in many cases with real (gaming) industry experience were heard, there might have been a silver lining. Instead any opinion that goes against the company establishment – which by the way is completely obsolete by the year 2016 – is nipped in the bud. Only and only C-level knows best, so just keep your opinion for yourself. The results of this management procedures can unfortunately be witnessed now – with more than 600 people being forced out of the company, that just mere months before was so eager to have them on board. A huge and devastating misstep by the so called top management. The loyalists – This group is basically an extension to the C-level and shares most of its “prominent qualities”. Raised and grown by the GGS machine, this mostly mid-level managers have too much of Goodgame’s DNA spliced with their own, to be considered as sound managerial staff. In many cases those “experts” started their career at GGS and never worked for a different company. So they believe that the GGS approach is the only legitimate approach to the (gaming) business. They are in for a surprise, as they surely will have to consider different career options in the near future. In general there are obviously very capable exemptions. Good and capable people who were able to maintain their common business sense and are unaffected by the limited GGS POV. Those people by now should already have found positions that are more suitable for their talents in better (gaming) companies. The products – This should normally be the most distinguishable feature of any (gaming) company. But ask yourself – what do you associate with this company’s game(s) portfolio? Well there is this one-hit wonder that via tedious, commercial reruns in late-night television reminded you to build an Empire. That this commonwealth is build on an aggressive pay-to-win mechanic, is obvious to anyone who plays this “game” for more than one hour. But besides that, what other noteworthy game(s) have left this GOOD GAME workbench in the last couple of years? What value has been added to the gaming community as a whole? Sorry but without engaging and entertaining entertainment products there is no future for this company. Listen, I understand that the Freemium business is tough and very competitive. The search for the next best hit is risky and requires perseverance. But without any risk taking, over-dependence on analytics and the believe that “FUN” can be synthesized through BI you are programmed to fail. And you also prove that you never understood this industry from the get-go. The company image –It is all just a make-believe castle of Illusions created by the very capable HR marketing team. Yeah it’s great to have regular company events and parties. A good way to connect with those before mentioned great colleagues. But what are even the best events worth, if I do not receive my salary in time to pay my rent at the beginning of any month. What should I make out of company values like “Honesty” and “Transparency” if they are trampled over by the top management to fulfill their own grandiose agenda. This tedious political games are bleeding through the various levels and in the last year have infected the overall mood in the company. Remember – the image you are creating for the outside is vastly different to what people are experiencing on the inside. And in the end all this external effort will be for nothing, when the word is spread that not all is GOOD in this empire.

Pros

- good work life balance - good and talented colleagues - good working atmosphere

Cons

- bad management - company focuses on F2P "dead end" games - no flat hierarchies as they so much sell to employees before joining - no internal/external trainings or interest in skills related to actual game development - bad salaries and small pay raise per year