Cryptic's Ex-Employees Call The Studio Out On Glassdoor

If you've ever wondered what it might be like to work at a company that develops free-to-play MMORPGs, look no further. A Reddit post showed up today linking to the Glassdoor page for Cryptic Studios with some choice quotes included. The Glassdoor page has supposedly been making rounds on the internet recently. The quotes supplied aren't exactly inspiring.

The major theme seems to be that management are driven by profit margins. Perhaps not the most surprising thing to hear—they are a business, after all—but it seems that they will look to make a profit in any way they can. In a review entitled "Horridly arrogant management team," the former employee mentions that "they aren't afraid to lay people off creatively so there is little/no severance package" and "I've literally heard their upper management team discussing putting out a piece of crap game just so they can [recoup] costs and make a quick buck." This seems to imply that they are not only willing to shovel anything onto their customers, but to toss their employees aside with no regard if it means they can hit their bottom line. This is even more depressing when you take into that another review states that the "hours were often difficult and required last minute crunch" and that there were "few career advancement opportunities." Perhaps this is because, as the first review said, "their management team is a club of old buddies that really don't give a crap about anybody but themselves."

Another quote, mentioned in the Reddit post, states that "quality is not a part of 'The Cryptic Way'. Despite claims by management suggesting otherwise, quality is a distant second to getting it done on time. That wouldn't be a problem if management (executives and production) didn't set unrealistic goals every step of the way. Everything comes down to 'Do more and do it faster' rather than ever focusing on upping the quality bar or prioritizing in a way that ensures we deliver something worthwhile." This is followed by another quote stating that "quality of the games are an afterthought, as the primary goal is to create systems and mechanics that will monetize well. Most of the teams here do NOT play the games that they build. This is disheartening when trying to have a conversation about what works or not, and are shushed by someone who has only played a single level 20 toon (and only due to a bonus requirement)."

When read together, it starts to sound like Cryptic has either become, or possibly always was, the free-to-play company stereotype that everyone has been concerned about since the dawn of pay-to-win. The company that pushes out anything and values volume and "just getting it done" over any sort of value to the consumer. The company that works people for long hours and crunch time and doesn't properly compensate them when they are laid off. The company whose higher-ups don't even play their games, which begins to explain why it seems like they are out of touch. Regardless of the case, it is disheartening to hear.