Turbine Reviews

3.6

64% would recommend to a friend

(101 total reviews)

Tom Casey

100% approve of CEO

51% positive business outlook

Turbine has an employee rating of 3.6 out of 5 stars, based on 101 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Turbine 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

101 reviews
2.0
1 May 2015

Great at times, but lacking overall

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Best 401k you could ask for in the game industry, and solid benefits thanks to both Turbine and WB Fun studio-wide events Bagel Fridays, fresh fruit on Tuesdays One of the only AAA studios left in Boston Big, open studio space is refreshing If you're interested in the mobile space, the IPs at Turbine will make you very happy There are some seriously talented and passionate people here

Cons

There was just a lot of politics (more than the norm), even for someone who didn't want to be involved in it. A lot of shaming and blaming has been happening for even the smallest things, lots of talking behind backs, rather than just addressing and fixing issues - a culture inherited from certain managers. It creates an unpleasant and toxic environment that feeds itself, and doesn't inspire confidence or respect. Although these complaints have been heard, it never seemed like anyone listened. The upper management seems pretty tight-knit, so critique of their leadership doesn't have any real effect. As you can see from the clearly padded reviews below this, there's an obvious urge to cover up and gloss over those kinds of problems, and instead blaming the lower-level employees for being uneasy. This kind of stuff is why people keep leaving Turbine. The games themselves, while exciting IPs, are almost quite literally carbon copies. That's a mix of a couple problems. One is because the goal, frankly, is to make money, which is understandable because Turbine needs to prove itself in that space and get some footing. Though I'd argue that skinning other people's games doesn't do much to push the company forward, nor inspire confidence in the new direction of the company. The other is lack of ability to innovate. It's not because the designers have no imagination or anything, they're great, it's because producers, EPs, marketing, directors and execs all have their hands in the pie to the point where you just have to start over and copy something that worked for someone else. The focus should be on making players happy, not making money and pleasing execs - because the former will result in the latter when it's done right.

2.0
5 Dec 2014

Frustrating, Frustrating, Frustrating

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great people in the trenches. Understanding managers at mid-level. Those who manage personnel are generally very supportive of their team members' career growth. Access to really great IPs through WB. Good benefits, decent salary. Good food nearby. Lake/woods walking trail across the street. Free on-site gym.

Cons

Two rounds of layoffs in the last year. I used to feel like Turbine was my home away from home, and now the company has no soul. Executives and directors are often playing weird catty political games, and none of the major department heads get along. Turbine has a very anti-collaborative culture at director/executive level. There is always a feeling of a power struggle going on. I have no confidence at all in the direction of the company. Exec shifts gears every year or so and it always feels like we're just chasing the hottest trend in the market...but too late to get a leg up. Total lack of desire from upper management to put out a quality product...they only care about profitability. Really bad morale after layoffs. Like, really bad. Everyone is paranoid that there will be more next year. Upper management speaks dismissively of older projects that defined Turbine for many years, which is pretty depressing. WB doesn't feel very supportive of new Turbine projects.

3.0
1 June 2015

Turbine 2015

Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working on a number of the art teams has been a privilege. The various art teams have been the most competent and in-line with industry standards out of any other group at Turbine. They encourage healthy self-improvement through sharing knowledge and growing together. Even outside of the art teams, there are amazing people that you will have life-long connections with. Being under the WB Games umbrella of safety, Turbine has extended its lifespan, receiving some very nice health packages, superior 401k matching, and almost no crunch time.

Cons

The biggest problem is the bloated number of management types who have climbed the ranks simply through longevity. As the saying goes, (pardon for it not being very PC) "Too many chiefs, not enough indians." While the overall mindset of the company is shifting toward progress, there are still close-minded, "old school" employees that feel all too complacent going about their lives at Turbine doing the same thing they have been for the past 20 years of the company's existance. The theme of the past 4 years seems to be, "too little too late" as they've missed the bar on almost every project or release in that time frame.

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Glassdoor has 126 Turbine reviews submitted anonymously by Turbine employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Turbine is right for you.