Does Santa Monica Studio pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Santa Monica Studio employees rate their compensation and benefits as 4.2 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Santa Monica Studio. This rating has improved by 2% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Santa Monica Studio?

89% of Santa Monica Studio employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Santa Monica Studio 3.6 out of 5 for work life balance, 4.1 for culture and values and 3.8 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Santa Monica Studio?

Concept Artist (3) , Artist (2) , Associate Environment Artist (2) , Designer (2) , Environment Artist (2) , Game Programmer (2) , QA Analyst (2) , QA Test Analyst (2) , Senior QA Analyst (2)

What are the pros of working at Santa Monica Studio according to real employee reviews?

"Awesome team in general" ((in 6 reviews)); "amazing people to work with" ((in 6 reviews)); "At Santa Monica, everyone is always interested in making the best game possible." ((in 4 reviews)); "Great to see women and POC in studio leadership and director roles." ((in 3 reviews))

Santa Monica Studio Reviews

4.2

89% would recommend to a friend

(23 total reviews)

Yumi Yang

88% approve of CEO

71% positive business outlook

Santa Monica Studio has an employee rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars, based on 23 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Santa Monica Studio employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

23 reviews

2.0

24 Apr 2026

Great pay but a siloed and isolating environment

Senior narrative designer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Great pay and benefits. Looks great on your resume.

Cons

Extremely siloed and isolating working environment. Unpredictable management. Outdated tools. Leads are the only ones who get to make meaningful creative decisions.

5.0

7 Oct 2025

Good place

Game programmer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

People are nice and supportive. The team are professional. Good payment.

Cons

I can’t think of any so far

4.0

17 May 2025

Solid place to grow in your craft and work with some of the brightest people in the industry

Technical combat designer

Recommend

CEO approval

Business outlook

Pros

Seemingly infinite funding, talented developers, cool projects that don't ever sacrifice quality, extremely fast iteration without attachment to things that just arent working. Might make a GOTY if you care about that at all. Mainly, a place to grow in your field imo.

Cons

Way too much outsourcing and contracting that makes iteration and communication more difficult at times. As a result also often asked to make firm design decisions when you haven't had enough time to explore those designs on paper or in engine, ends up in tons of wasted work the company makes up for with excessive manpower (or the end result just suffers). Imo honestly the epitome of how AAA can try to cram way too much into one game instead of picking one lane and staying in it. Feels kind of buttoned up and corporate not as friendly of a culture compared to the only other studio ive been at. Supposedly tons of crunch but havent reached that point in the project yet. Directors are treated like royalty/gods (e.g. Cory Barlog). Feels really competitive with ego and seeking promotion. Large teams make you feel small here unless you're a big wig.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 23 Reviews