Fun Company, unequal opportunities - Programmer Next Level Games Employee Review

It's a family. You feel you are a part of something that everyone is invested in. Where else in NA can you work on Nintendo IP?

They don't pay as well as other studios but it doesn't matter. You get to work on Nintendo titles.

Best culture of any company I've worked at. Hard-work and skill are valued. Collaboration is encouraged and facilitated. Employees are generally extremely friendly, helpful, and excited about collaborating and making great games. Unlike many game companies, NLG prioritizes creating engaging game experiences first and foremost. Everything comes from a place of crafting the player experience, and because of that, people take pride in creating a product that is polished and fun. Business decisions like release scheduling, game monetization, etc. are of course considered, but seem to take a back seat to making a fun game. Work-life balance is good. There is mandatory work-in-office 3 days a week, but I consider this a pro. In-office days are extremely productive, and you'll find yourself working through problems side-by-side with other developers rather than trying to communicate through Zoom or Slack. Good benefits, and lots of additional perks like in-studio fitness programs, art programs, events, game nights, classes, etc. Engineering tech is quite impressive. Over their 20-year history, they've built a wide variety of tools and engine features that make creating new games far easier than starting from scratch every time. If you value working with a talented group of engineers, this is a good place to be.

Some people may not like mandatory work in-office days. Because of the company structure being pretty flat, sometimes it's not clear who's in charge of a task/feature, and at times you get multiple people coming to you with the same request or question.