Sep 25, 2022
Blizzard Entertainment
Part of Activision Blizzard
Engaged Employer
Blizzard Entertainment Associate Program Manager – Engineering Systems reviews
3.5
63% would recommend to a friend
Johanna Faries
Not enough data to show CEO approval
43% positive business outlook
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Reviews by job title
13 reviews
2.0
Oct 5, 2021
Formerly one of the best game studios in the world; Now just another corporate husk
Former employee, more than 10 years
Irvine, CA
Recommend
Business Outlook
Pros
Because Blizzard makes several different, interconnected games on a variety of platforms, you will be able to gain significant experience working within complex game dev product cycles (unless you’re in Customer Service)., from early pre-prod stages (depending on your discipline) through the ongoing support of a product launch and onto GaaS. The Blizzard campus has some cool areas that you’ll geek out on…for a while, until the newness wears off You’ll get to interact with some of the best game designers, engineers, and artists in the industry. Company benefits are standard for most large corporations, though they are falling behind when compared to high tech specifically. Blizzard swag can be pretty cool at times, and you get discounts on ATVI/BLZ games. 1 week off at the end of the year You get to pretend you’re a celebrity each year when you attend/work BlizzCon wearing Blizz employee clothing.
Cons
- Some enormous egos get away with abhorrent behavior because they’re seen as valuable to the company. - The company culture is *beyond* toxic. In addition to what’s been in the news, devs on the major game teams are treated as gods. Most other disciplines, especially QA and CS, are treated like 2nd/3rd class, skillless, wholly replaceable bit players whose primary function is in service to devs. - Low pay across the board except for the rare few dozen who are either execs or particularly special/tenured devs. Blizz trades on its (former) reputation as a supposed leader in the industry in order to convince you that you should be happy to be able to work at Blizz and accept a lower salary for the “privilege” of being able to be here. They go out of their way to sell you on the company kool aid and try to brainwash you into believing Blizz is your “family,” knowing that, psychologically, this tactic increases retention rates. - High cost of living area coupled with Blizz’s reluctance (prior to pandemic…unsure what long term strat will end up being now) to allow remote work opportunities for almost anyone other than engineers and some designers only exacerbates the pay problem. - The depth of unbelievably poor / inexperienced / incompetent leadership in many departments is astounding. - Crunch is just a standard and accepted part of the job. - Nepotism / favoritism is rampant. There isn’t a place anywhere in the company you can go where the guys (guys specifically) getting all the positions of power and money are the ones making friends in the right places or are literally related to the powerful. - You get pigeonholed. It’s very tough to convince anyone you have skills and potential outside of the job/discipline you were hired for (unless, again, you make the right friends). - HR is complicit in the toxic culture. Their willingness to act on harassment or other claims is directly proportional to the level of “star” quality the accused holds.
5.0
May 6, 2021
Recommend
Business Outlook
Pros
Had a great time as an early career professional and found tons of opportunities to improve upon myself and own initiatives
Cons
Found more opportunities elsewhere - Living in Irvine is kind of a drag at 24 lmao
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