It's been a week now, since I've started living my dream... It's been a week of discovery and awe.
To my friends, my dream of being a game developer in a big company should be nothing new. They've made fun of my determination to work at Blizzard ever since I first said it out loud (I was in the 7th grade then). Well, slowly but surely, I'm making my way toward it.
As of last Monday (April 7th) I'm an employee of Ubisoft Bucharest. In a few words, Ubisoft is the 3rd largest video game publisher this side of the ocean (Europe). If you want the detailed figures, look them up. My job title is "Junior C, C++ Game Developer", shorter said, I'm a programmer (more exactly gameplay programmer).
After this glimpse of time I've been here, I can already tell you the truth of the saying "Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life."
I never thought it could be so nice to have an 8 hour working schedule. I never thought I could love waking up at 8 in the morning (as you might already know, I've never been a morning person). And most of all, I'd have never believed I could want to stay in after work hours. And it's not because of any big 'Wow!' discovery, but all the little 'Oh!' moments that make their way into every day I spend here.
First of all this comes from the fact that respectful multi-national companies cherish their employees. A happy employee is a productive employee. As such, they gave their all to have us satisfied (well, there's always room for improvement, we don't have free ice cream, and we don't wear silky PJs and bunny slippers at work, but comparing to other employment opportunities around, I'd say we're pretty privileged... and I think I'll try coming in to work in silky PJs and bunny slippers, just to see if anybody minds).
Our office building is 5 stories high, divided in two major sides, and we share it with 3 other companies (Gameloft, AMA, and Guillemot). It used to be a parking lot, but it's come a long way from there. The automatic doors and card based access past the reception area are just the tip of the iceberg. The location is open 24/7, we have a doorman and receptionists, and there is no other conduit for entering aside the badge (you need it to open doors). We don't have offices... at least not what people usually understand by the term (there are offices for HR, Sales, and Management, but not for Production).
We work in teams (structure is almost strictly hierarchical), each team with it's own share of people for each of the positions required to make a game. And we're bunched up in HUGE rooms. The one I'm currently sitting in is shared by about 5 teams (FHMKT, FH, SH, MNG, ChA - I'll let you speculate on the meanings of those). We each have our own desks, PCs (I'm talking 3GHz q-cores with 2G RAM, LCD screens and other mouth watering bits), and dev units ( big, ugly black boxes with lots of switches and cables and sparkling lights). Oh, and we have these brilliant chairs that tilt, rotate and have wheels (yes, we race around the room sometimes). We have several king-sized LCD TVs, lots of gaming consoles, and stacks of games, right in the office (for research purposes, of course).
Then again, we have a fitness area with instructor and dancing classes, relaxation area with pool tables, table football, consoles and massage, mess hall (we still have to pay for our food though), vending machines for coffee (and various byproducts), snacks and drinks.
The bathrooms are eat-off-the-floor clean, always have soap, paper towels (and blow-driers), and toilet paper. We also have dedicated kitchens on each floor with bar-style tables and chairs, refrigerators, microwaves and sinks, plus cupboards and any and all other equipment needed to eat. It's all inclusive. We even have several couches you could count on if you stayed in so long that public transportation was out.
And, best of all, we have no crap policies. We have admin rights on our computers, we can install any and all applications we want or need (as opposed to not being allowed to use instant messengers or listen to music) - even games. Standard working hours are 9 - 13, 14 - 18, but it's not set in stone. What actually matters is that you have common sense, and don't abuse other's good will. You can come in to work later (some even as late as 14 o'clock), or leave earlier should you need to. You can take a day off, provided you let people know about it in advance. All that matters is, at the end of the month, you have your share of working hours done (8h * n working days that month).
I guess that about sums it up about the place itself. But I am sure there are other details I haven't even discovered yet.
To my friends, my dream of being a game developer in a big company should be nothing new. They've made fun of my determination to work at Blizzard ever since I first said it out loud (I was in the 7th grade then). Well, slowly but surely, I'm making my way toward it.
As of last Monday (April 7th) I'm an employee of Ubisoft Bucharest. In a few words, Ubisoft is the 3rd largest video game publisher this side of the ocean (Europe). If you want the detailed figures, look them up. My job title is "Junior C, C++ Game Developer", shorter said, I'm a programmer (more exactly gameplay programmer).
After this glimpse of time I've been here, I can already tell you the truth of the saying "Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life."
I never thought it could be so nice to have an 8 hour working schedule. I never thought I could love waking up at 8 in the morning (as you might already know, I've never been a morning person). And most of all, I'd have never believed I could want to stay in after work hours. And it's not because of any big 'Wow!' discovery, but all the little 'Oh!' moments that make their way into every day I spend here.
First of all this comes from the fact that respectful multi-national companies cherish their employees. A happy employee is a productive employee. As such, they gave their all to have us satisfied (well, there's always room for improvement, we don't have free ice cream, and we don't wear silky PJs and bunny slippers at work, but comparing to other employment opportunities around, I'd say we're pretty privileged... and I think I'll try coming in to work in silky PJs and bunny slippers, just to see if anybody minds).
Our office building is 5 stories high, divided in two major sides, and we share it with 3 other companies (Gameloft, AMA, and Guillemot). It used to be a parking lot, but it's come a long way from there. The automatic doors and card based access past the reception area are just the tip of the iceberg. The location is open 24/7, we have a doorman and receptionists, and there is no other conduit for entering aside the badge (you need it to open doors). We don't have offices... at least not what people usually understand by the term (there are offices for HR, Sales, and Management, but not for Production).
We work in teams (structure is almost strictly hierarchical), each team with it's own share of people for each of the positions required to make a game. And we're bunched up in HUGE rooms. The one I'm currently sitting in is shared by about 5 teams (FHMKT, FH, SH, MNG, ChA - I'll let you speculate on the meanings of those). We each have our own desks, PCs (I'm talking 3GHz q-cores with 2G RAM, LCD screens and other mouth watering bits), and dev units ( big, ugly black boxes with lots of switches and cables and sparkling lights). Oh, and we have these brilliant chairs that tilt, rotate and have wheels (yes, we race around the room sometimes). We have several king-sized LCD TVs, lots of gaming consoles, and stacks of games, right in the office (for research purposes, of course).
Then again, we have a fitness area with instructor and dancing classes, relaxation area with pool tables, table football, consoles and massage, mess hall (we still have to pay for our food though), vending machines for coffee (and various byproducts), snacks and drinks.
The bathrooms are eat-off-the-floor clean, always have soap, paper towels (and blow-driers), and toilet paper. We also have dedicated kitchens on each floor with bar-style tables and chairs, refrigerators, microwaves and sinks, plus cupboards and any and all other equipment needed to eat. It's all inclusive. We even have several couches you could count on if you stayed in so long that public transportation was out.
And, best of all, we have no crap policies. We have admin rights on our computers, we can install any and all applications we want or need (as opposed to not being allowed to use instant messengers or listen to music) - even games. Standard working hours are 9 - 13, 14 - 18, but it's not set in stone. What actually matters is that you have common sense, and don't abuse other's good will. You can come in to work later (some even as late as 14 o'clock), or leave earlier should you need to. You can take a day off, provided you let people know about it in advance. All that matters is, at the end of the month, you have your share of working hours done (8h * n working days that month).
I guess that about sums it up about the place itself. But I am sure there are other details I haven't even discovered yet.
Yves Larock - Rise Up
1 comment:
Felicitari !
an old friend
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