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Valve Is the Most Desirable Employer in Video Games, Study Finds


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In new study from the IGDA, Half-Life and Steam company beats out Activision, BioWare, Ubisoft, and Naughty Dog, as well as self-employment.

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Which video game industry company is the most attractive for people looking for a job? According to a recent study, that award goes to Half-Life and Steam company Valve. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) today published the results of a 2014 survey of more than 2,200 developers, with Valve taking the top spot, above even "my own company." That's right, more people would rather work for Valve than for themselves.


Below are the results of the IGDA's study, which was based on data from the group's annual developer satisfaction survey. Specific criteria was not shared (we have followed up with the IGDA for comment), but it's not hard to see why Valve might be a desirable choice for people breaking into the business or looking for a new opportunity.


Valve is a major player in the industry, but unlike the others listed here (except for "my own company"), Valve is privately owned. This means it is not subject to the same pressures as publicly traded companies; after all, once a company goes public, management is tasked with growing shareholder value. People at Valve also don't have bosses, can take as much vacation time as they want, and desks are on wheels to encourage constant dialogue and collaboration between employees.



The most desirable developer or publisher employers, according to the IGDA study:

  • Valve (Half-Life, Steam, Portal)
  • My own company
  • Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Skylanders)
  • BioWare (Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Star Wars: The Old Republic)
  • Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Just Dance)
  • Current employer
  • Nintendo (Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong)
  • Naughty Dog (The Last of Us, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted)
  • Double Fine (Brutal Legend, Psychonauts, Broken Age)
  • Bethesda Game Studios (Fallout, The Elder Scrolls)

 

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WHERE IS HALF LIFE 3??????

 

I think it is vying The Last Guardian and Beyond Good and Evil for the title of Most hyped gamle, pl0x release the title, you bastids.

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Well of course they are desireable to work at. They hire you to make games. They make no games. You sit at office and browse reddit all day and get paid. :P

 

 

THIS! :lol:

 

and they also have a very convenient "when it's done" motto (same as Blizzard) :P

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True most game company employees need to work overtime when nearing release of a product , this mostly holds true for most industries. But If you see companies like in ND.Bethesda and stuff they would gladly do it because of how good the work environment is. But EA is on a whole different league , theres a whole section on wiki about it lol.

 

In 2004, Electronic Arts was criticized for employees working extraordinarily long hours—up to 100 hours per week—and not just at "crunch" times leading up to the scheduled releases of products. The publication of the EA Spouse blog, with criticisms such as "The current mandatory hours are 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.—seven days a week—with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behavior (at 6:30 PM)."[76] The company has since settled a class action lawsuit brought by game artists to compensate for unpaid overtime.[77]The class was awarded US$15.6 million. As a result, many of the lower-level developers (artists, programmers, producers, and designers) are now working at an hourly rate. A similar suit brought by programmers was settled for US$14.9 million.[78]

Since these criticisms first aired, it has been reported that EA has taken steps to address work-life balance concerns by focusing on long-term project planning, compensation, and communication with employees. These efforts accelerated with the arrival of John Riccitiello as CEO in February 2007. In December 2007, an internal EA employee survey showed a 13% increase in employee morale and a 21% increase in perception of management recognition over a three-year period.[79]

In May 2008, "EA Spouse" blog author Erin Hoffman, speaking to videogame industry news site Gamasutra, stated that EA had made significant progress, but may now be falling into old patterns again. Hoffman said that "I think EA is tremendously reformed, having made some real strong efforts to get the right people into their human resources department", and "I've been hearing from people who have gotten overtime pay there and I think that makes a great deal of difference. In fact, I've actually recommended to a few people I know to apply for jobs there", but she also said she has begun to hear "horror stories" once again

 

 

Bioware was acquired by EA only few years back and even though they get a lot of pressure from EA , the work culture mostly remains the same.

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It is common among big publishers. A friend of mine worked for Ubisoft and he was treated like shite. They didn't even allow him to take a vacation. He was once pushed to work 24 hours. He was laid off and was called again after few months to work on new project. Nothing worked for him. One of the worst environment if you are a low level employee.

 

At least EA paid $14.9 million to programmers for overdue overtime.

 

Edit: http://kotaku.com/5940672/pissed-off-employees-bash-pretty-much-every-major-video-game-company

 

Valve is the dream.

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Half life 3, last guardian, good and evil.. are coming? ..

 

actually we've been bamboozled .. literally!

U listed 3 games

 

 

 

Hl3 confirmed xD

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