Sledgehammer Games Reviews

Cons

been here a little white, no cons yet :)

Cons

Do to the sensitivity of our projects there is a lack of transparence that could use some improvement. Feels a little isolating and stifles growth. Coworkers don't want to return to the office. Cost of living in the area is rough.

Cons

-Poor pay and benefits with 0 transparency -Contractors don't qualify for game bonuses and they make sure to not tell you, many had no idea they didn't qualify and counted on getting one to offset bay area COL -Very top heavy management and directors with little vision to offer outside of cringe boomer tastes. -Management doesn't actually produce or contribute anything. They just make whatever whim requests they can of devs below them who do the actual physical work so they have something to show at their next meeting to justify their bloated salaries and glass offices. -Complete embarrassing levels of opacity, you'll never know what is actually going on with the studio. Everyone speaks in LinkedIn-ese, you'll never for as long as you're there ever get a straight answer out of anyone. -Management typically hides their gross levels of incompetence behind 'sophisticated' bureaucracy. Its impossible to get the most basic, kindergarten level changes done. Changes that studio's with no where near their budget have already implemented. -You're not actually going to be creating anything, the process is very assembly line with as little creativity as possible. -Most in the higherup positions were the leftovers of Condrey and Shofield's exodus, they were promoted out of desperation not meritocracy which becomes really apparent the longer you stay.

Cons

Activision policies seem to regularly inhibit leadership for improving basic quality of life for developers. Though there is a very inclusive culture, there isn't a lot of diversity

Cons

There is no free lunch

Cons

WFH has been quite difficult in socializing, however company outings helps a lot to make things feel less lonely

Cons

All the talent left, not just from engineering, but from other parts of development.

Cons

This studio got run into the ground years ago by one of its co founders (whose initials are MC) It was a miserable place to work, but despite that, the talent in the studio was undeniable. Particularly at the Director level. Now of that talented crew of extremely seasoned veterans… one remains. Not sure why but he seems to be sticking with the ship till it goes down. All the real talent and leadership have moved on to other Bay Area studios.(SDS and 51st) what’s left now is seemingly people whose feet don’t come close to filling the empty shoes left behind. The contribution this studio makes to COD is small now… in fact nearly all the work we did on Cold War got flushed as the other COD studios took over. Add to that, it’s the most expensive studio that Activision owns. IMO it’s only a matter of time before it gets shut down if for only that reason… Same yourself from this place. Follow the real talent that once was here. All the great creatives went to SDS… all the great engineers went to 51st…. Choose your path wisely if you want to be happy or grow in your career.

Cons

None that I can think of.

Cons

Poor communication between departments and scope creep management. Corporate still has final say on all decisions even if the dev studio knows better and often forces their choices onto it which can severely disrupt production and morale. It's difficult to climb the "corporate ladder" as Activision hands out promotions very slowly.