People were removed from the game credits - Anonymous employee MachineGames Employee Review

1.0
14 Dec 2024
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Friendly and talented teammates, good brands.

Cons

Everyone that left the company before the release date of Indiana Jones got removed from the regular game credits and put as "Additional Contributions" on a foot note, without any of their job titles. Punished, creating a toxic culture of trying to keep people from leaving. Ironic that the first name in the credits and the public face is Todd Howard, when he is not even part of the studio or the day to day development. These people on "Additional Contributions" in Indiana Jones did mandatory crunch for extended periods, late nights, early mornings, weekends. I was asked for new tasks 20 minutes before the time of my resignation deadline, in which HR escorted me out of the building. Using vacation days was locked during these periods of time. Leadership broke their word on hybrid conditions and enforced full time return to office. Of course, overtime compensation is done in additional vacation days that, since they cannot be used until release or cashed out if you resign, is again another tool to punish you if you leave. 6 month non compete contract clause that forbids you to take another job with the rest of the industry, because a judge shut them down back in the day when MachineGames tried to enforce a 2 year non-compete clause. Look into the legal history of the company, they have sued ex-employees. Funny that they are so careful about non-competes and talent poaching, as MachineGames was created literally that way with people from Starbreeze. Nowadays they keep that clause as a bargaining chip so that people remain for the 3 months resignation period, in exchange for the company letting you have another job. Until your last day, you will always have the fear that they have the power to destroy your career future at any moment without a second thought. Mediocre salaries, and living in Uppsala is like being the protagonist of Groundhog Day. You will feel like a cog in the machine. If you join, have an exit date in mind, because your brain will slowly turn to mush as time passes.

Explore other reviews about MachineGames

5.0
27 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Making games Work\Life balance Location

Cons

Uppsala might be too small for you if you like big cities Salaries are smaller comparing to market (non gamedev)

5.0
13 Sept 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

An amazing audio team full of incredibly talented, kind, and helpful individuals, and lots of people on other teams who are very open to ideas, collaboration, and are just very passionate about what they're doing.

Cons

Sometimes some deadlines were not really met, but as I understand, this happens quite frequently in the games industry.

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