26.10.07 who’s the best in your field?
Today, Patrick asks, who’s the most awesomest company you can work for in your field? Which company would be the equivalent of playing for the Montreal Canadiens in the 70s? Which would be like playing for them now?
I thought about it, and one of the first that sprang to mind was BioWare. There’s a company that in a bitch of an industry conditions-wise, manages to crank out top-notch games on their own terms, whilst succeeding in being a recognized leader in the area of quality of life. Of course, being in Edmonton, they could only ever hope to be the Oilers, not the Canadiens, but hey.
However, as you may know, BioWare was bought a couple of weeks ago by EA, arguably one of the most infamous games companies for quality of life issues. To some developers, this is like Luke joining forces with Vader. Yesterday Jonathan, a BioWare stockholder, received papers to sign related to the deal. We joked about his stopping the 860M$ deal by failing to return the signed documents on time, and thus becoming a grass-roots hero of game developers everywhere. We wondered how much of a loss he would be willing to take to nix the symbolism-heavy deal.
But no, BioWare will be absorbed into EA, thus motivating the question, if you define awesome by good conditions and quality products, who’s the awesomest NOW?
Good question - and of course, one I’ve given a thought to …
Interested in hearing about your goings-on, when you can discuss the stories - or at GDC, perhaps.
Oh, and hey! How ya doin?
I dunno about all that, but I think Jak 2 is the best “dynamic duo” type of game EVER! Better than Ratchet and Clank!
I only hear you ever talk about R&C. Have you played Jak 2?
Of course, you probably clean up on any PS2 game, what with that double-jointed thumb and all.
cheers
Radical Entertainment (www.radical.ca) has been on my radar for a while.
Employee benefits and perks include
* A fully equipped state of the art gym (with personal trainers available on site)
* Free passes to local ski and snowboarding hills
* Hot lunches catered for the entire studio twice per week
* Our first class kitchen stocked every week with fresh food, special requests welcome!
* Season tickets to our local NHL team, The Vancouver Canucks
* On-site Shiatsu massage therapy
* Free passes to Vancouver’s Art Gallery
* Hatha yoga classes held regularly on site
* Extended heath care program
* Comprehensive 360-degree review performance management process
* A performance planning process designed to maximize each employee’s potential
* A broad annual training curriculum tailored to our employees’ development needs
* Well-defined career paths for each major discipline within the company
* A leadership development program for current and emerging leaders
* Formal and informal mentorship programs
* Extensive immigration resources and support for foreign workers
* Resources dedicated to the retention and well being of our people
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