Magnopus reviews

4.1

81% would recommend to a friend

(59 total reviews)

Ben Grossmann

90% approve of CEO

74% positive business outlook

Magnopus has an employee rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars, based on 59 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an excellent working experience there. The Magnopus employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

59 reviews
2.0
Sep 25, 2017

Great staff, Not-So-Great Leadership

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

*Clean, cutting edge atmosphere and cool tech *Administrative staff is on top of their game *Friendly team members to work with

Cons

*The biggest con, the deal breaker for this company, is the squandering of talented individuals, especially artists. Magnopus is, above all, is a vendor company which caters to other companies. If you're a 3D artist of any kind, you'll be doing mostly retopology of another company's assets. This is about 99% of your job. Period. If you know scripting, you'll be spending a vast majority of your time writing scripts or tools for other artists. If you're a concept artist, you will be a 3D generalist instead of doing much concepting. The common theme here is that you most likely won't be doing anything pertaining to your actual skill-set. They don't disclose any of this information to you, of course, during the interview. You're mostly distracted with the sleek, fresh look of the studio and all the cool VR gadgetry. Above all, they sell the management culture to you as though Magnopus is a "laid-back, carefree company" that doesn't believe in crunch time or working their staff into the ground, when in actuality, they just don't believe in someone working into overtime, but that same workload of the latter is still present. If you know any artist friend that happens to work here, I invite you to ask their opinion, they will tell you the same. If you have any aspirations of using your hard-earned creativity and skill-set as an artist to better yourself in the industry and be challenged while receiving competitive pay, I would highly caution you to look elsewhere. *The leadership is some of the most unprofessional and inexperienced that I've ever had the misfortune of working with, barring one or two exceptions. If you've ever seen analogies online describing the differences between a "boss" and a "leader," leadership here is the perfect example of a "boss." They expect irrationally quick results at the great expense of quality, have little or no understanding of the actual technical sides of said tasks being done, and can't be bothered to counsel their subordinates or lead by example. *The turnover rate here is extremely high. The company will hire scores of artists and programmers en masse, and then fire the vast majority of them about as quickly. In the short time that I was at the company, I witnessed half a dozen programmers and artists being let go at the drop of a hat, for any number of reasons.

avatar
Magnopus Response
8y
I’m sorry to hear you didn't have a good experience at the company, and I’d like to bring clarity to some of your observations. Easy ones first; you mentioned that you "witnessed a half dozen programmers and artists being let go at the drop of a hat.” That’s never happened, and it hasn’t even come close. In the entire history of the company over more than 4 years, that’s about how many people we’ve let go, and in each of those cases there were very valid reasons and those events were given weeks of corrective due process. With more than 80 current employees, it's to be expected that sometimes people will choose to leave to pursue other ambitions, or that we might have a mismatch that is best resolved by parting ways. In much rarer cases, we've had to let employees go for violations of trust or company conduct. But never in the history of the company has something occurred as you describe. We make every effort to ensure that when we have a mismatch between employees needs and the company needs, we communicate clearly on a mutual path to alignment and offer ample opportunities course-correct. It’s not always possible though, and if in the end we do need to part ways, we do so with respect and gratitude. We do NOT take it lightly, it is a multi-stage process that takes time and has several checkpoints through co-workers, supervisors, and management. I personally review each of these recommendations to make sure there isn’t an alternative, and that the employee has taken the opportunity to address each matter. In several cases this has prevented an employee from leaving the company and has transferred them to another team or department where their skills were more appropriate, or we’ve enrolled that employee in training that has brought their skill in better alignment with the job for which they were hired. Regarding squandering the talent of artists, I’m very disappointed to hear that as well. From your description, you were on a project that involved a large IP that we partnered with to make a VR experience. In those cases, the assets of the original film are where we start, and the opportunities to create completely new things for a well known franchise are probably limited. Magnopus does have more than a few original properties in active development, but it sounds like you weren’t on one of them. Magnopus is not a vendor company. We frequently work with large brands because they’re properties that we have a future partnership with, and though we treat these brands like clients to be respected, as we should, we don’t have a single person in sales or marketing, and we turn down nearly every request we get to work as a vendor on a project. We do occasionally do “vendor work” on projects that we think are good causes, and we charge time and materials for them. We haven’t taken any jobs “for the money.” From time to time, we discover that a person we've hired for a certain position, lacks sufficient skills in that job though on paper and in the interview process they appeared to. In those cases, we consult with their leads, their supervisors, coordinators, and project managers to determine if any other role might be more commensurate to their talents, and although this sometimes results in an employee doing a few different things on a few different projects, it frequently results in an employee finding their place in the company and being happier with their job, rather than leaving the company. When every employee is hired, I send them a personal email that includes my cell phone number. I make sure to communicate that we're trying to build a great company for our employees and I consider them an important part of making it that way. If anything at this company concerns them, or is not to their satisfaction, everyone should feel not just the confidence, but the responsibility to call or text me immediately. In every company meeting, I reiterate that I'm available to all employees for any concern, no matter how small, no matter what hour. Nearly every employee at the company has gone on several lunches with their supervisors and with HR representatives, just to be sure that they’re feeling good about their role at the company, and to solicit feedback on ways we, and you, might improve our relationship. Many employees take advantage of this direct line of communication, and see prompt positive changes in the office as a result. But certainly encountering a post such as this implies that not everyone feels comfortable using the channels of communication that are available to them. Thanks for your time in detailing your concerns, Ben
2.0
Jul 7, 2020

Bad Management Ruins It

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Most of the people at Magnopus are very nice. The company is pretty accommodating to people’s lives. Pay is decent. Unlimited time off.

Cons

Many good people who love the company get mistreated and mismanaged. Experts are often ignored. People who are unproductive or unskilled often get preferred treatment. Any problems reported with coworkers result in immediate separation. You will likely not work on things that match your career goals. Projects are not budgeted properly. Nepotism is a slight issue.

avatar
Magnopus Response
5y
Thanks for your feedback, and for the time you spent with us! I know we've been criticized in the past for "holding on to people" and "not firing quickly enough." And you're right, people who may be underperforming get more attention than those who are performing well. We do that because we think it's what's right to do, and we've seen positive results from it. In fact, sometimes those "under-performers" have turned out to be our greatest assets when we find the thing that gives them meaning and purpose. Sometimes what one person thinks is "un-productive or unskilled" is actually just "different" and we like to take time to explore the possible value of "different." Certainly, it doesn't work out all the time, and sometimes we don't do as good a job of supporting everyone as we'd like. Admittedly, there are people who get frustrated with that because they embrace a "survival of the fittest" corporate mentality. As you found out, those people are probably better off at another company, and that's ok. We can definitely be doing better, as you suggest, and will continue to look for the right ways to do it.
2.0
Feb 24, 2020

Some of the best people you'll ever work with, and the worst you'll work for

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The team assembled at Magnopus consists of some of the finest, most talented, and friendly individuals will ever meet. Some of my closest friendships were forged during my time at Magnopus. The studio gets some major titles that look great on your resume. Employees are encouraged to learn additional skill sets. There are plenty of experienced employees willing to teach newer talent.

Cons

Upper management is manipulative and dishonest. CEO has lied directly to employees about easily fact checked things like labor laws. A former employee routinely abused their position by taking individuals into one-on-one meetings and verbally berating them. When a group of employees brought this to the CEO's attention, they were told the employee "brought a lot of value to the company" and their complaints were dismissed. Friends of upper management are put into leadership positions they are not qualified to hold. Certain leads are known to claim other employees work as their own. Raising concerns to upper management about supervisor performance results in the whistle blower being iced. Anonymous peer reviews are not anonymous. Supervisors are sometimes told who gave negative feedback and retaliate against their reports. Outwardly, company values seem solid with positive programs to promote women and LGBT+ individuals in the industry. However, the company takes on clients who actively work against these stated values.

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