Doesn't live up to its old, innovative reputation - Senior Artist PopCap Games Employee Review

3.0
21 Feb 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Casual game studio = casual work environment - Super talented, mostly nice people - Fun Belltown location - Recognizable IPs (Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled)

Cons

- Some real weirdos mixed in with the nice people. Like, no eye contact, don't reply to "Good Morning" weirdos - Intentionally stagnant creativity. Used to be known for making creative, innovative, quirky, fun games. Strategy for the past 6 years: do nothing except PvZ and Bejeweled sequels, no new IPs. The original PvZ would never have been invented in such an environment. - Less than ideal office layout. Spreading company over 3 non-adjacent floors does not facilitate teamwork or camaraderie, keeps people in silos. - In the space of 10 months, my last team hired 7 consecutive mid-20s white males as programmers.

Explore other reviews about PopCap Games

5.0
22 July 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Gone are the tech jobs where there was culture and fun. There are no pros

Cons

Think of any and it’s worse. Long gone are the days of fun and work hard to play hard.

4.0
13 Feb 2012
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The Workforce and Culture department does a good job at making employees to feel good about being at PopCap with free Naked juice, some free food, activities, games rooms, gym, etc.

Cons

Lots of nepotism, incompetent managers, and low pay for working employees. Credit for work done is often given to the wrong people based on their connections to upper management, not based on who got things done. So-called "profit sharing" is really "arbitrary forecast beating." The more profitable the company gets, the smaller the profit sharing has been for employees. The company is at a stage where lots of middle managers with no relevant skills are being hired. It is becoming very top heavy. There is little incentive to work at PopCap after it was sold to Electronic Arts, as the pay is as low as before, the "profit sharing" is very low to non-existent, there are no more stock options, and there is a mad dash to earn the founders their over-ambitious EA earnout targets, which means burn-out work loads over the next three years.

3
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