Crystal Dynamics reviews

Pay is way too low for the area and is not competitive. Constantly losing talent to other studios. Project is understaffed and over-scoped. Company is top heavy - too many producers, three game directors, three art directors, all on one project. Site says they are stilling hiring MORE producers. We need more designers and artists, not more micromanagement. Insane amount of overtime to compensate for lack of direction on the project, with weeks of 70-80 hour crunch even when we were two years away from shipping. Upper management constantly gives contradicting information. Very Jr. heavy because senior talent keeps leaving.

Long hours are required with 50 hours standard except for crunch time which is closer to 70 hours a week. No over time for those of us that are salary. Crunch time happens every 3-4 months for 2 months due to understaffing. The company tends to hire seniors or people right out of college which leaves gaps. Most of us are young with little office experience. They bring in lunch and dinner during crunch time to encourage employees to feel good about working longer hours. Food is decent but not worth the overtime. Management says they like feedback and transparency but they often ignore feedback and don't share when or why people leave. Did they get fired or quit? who knows. High burnout rate. Most people have been at the company for less than 1 year. I get the feeling that if my coworkers didn't have such high amounts of college debt that they would move on. Pay is okay, but bonuses are less than 10%, and you can forget about raises higher than 3%. They promote with title, not money. The last bonus I got was based on the amount of overtime and profit of the last game. Recruitment seems to hire to fill positions, not because the fit is right. Managers give feedback that starts as a positive but often slips in a bunch of negative to fear you into working harder and longer. The bathrooms suck. Stupid to mention but when you share a bathroom with so many guys, it becomes a big issue.