Excellent workplace - Programmer Playdead. Employee Review

• Cutting edge tech and full support for such at all levels • Games that are treated as art, not as a mere product. The company is run by a creative, not a horde of cynical marketing/business types. • Exciting creative atmosphere. Feeling of working on something truly special. • Friendly, collaborative energy within the art team and between departments • Ridiculously high level kitchen serving breakfast, lunch and weekly dessert surprises. Ri-di-cu-lous... • Some hybrid work possible. Management very generous with negotiating special arrangements for people who request it. • All manner of perks and help provided, from free financial advisors to physio to self-improvement events (courses, conferences and the like) • No overtime ...not even the wink-wink 'it's up to YOU' type

• Projects last 8+ years, requiring epic levels of psychological endurance and limiting 'upward mobility' for those seeking leadership roles (this in itself does not however limit salary) • Upper management distant and lacking transparency. As the company grows, the under-communication becomes more of an issue • Art and gameplay style are hard to grasp and bar is very high, which creates its own kind of pressure

* Extremely talented team * Very friendly coworkers * Excellent games and commitment to quality. Playdead’s output is remarkable. * Very relaxed work hours. * Decent perks (stocked fridge, sometimes cake, physio available)

* Psychologically unsafe. Fear, and gaslighting if necessary, is used to keep employees in line. * Pathological lip service. Coworkers will disappear and you’ll only hear “It wasn’t a good fit.” I saw more than one emotional breakdown from someone who was about to meet with management. * Feedback is rare or absent. It’s difficult to know how well/poorly you’re doing, and it often feels like your work is meaningless. * Low diversity. Mostly men. This has a noticiable effect on atmosphere. * Prepare to have your humanity turned off and become a tool. This is unfortunately normalized as “It’s famously difficult to work at Playdead.” * It’s a black box, and nothing you do here can be shown to any future employer due to NDA. * Low salaries don’t reflect the company’s success. Many of these issues are individually not critical, which is why it’s easy to dismiss them internally. Together, they create a monster. I wish it were not this unhealthy.