Pros
Huge potential for career growth with the proper networking and connections Meritocracy still in place for ENTRY LEVEL positions Free food everywhere Dynamic work environment for Content Producers
Cons
Work-life balance is terrible. Average work weeks = 60-70 hours, more for "crunch" times Constant "code red" state for declining game studios Focus on quarterly goals promotes poor short-term product/engineering decisions Major "pivots" to company/departmental strategy make planning and reliable delivery impossible Poor bonuses to "support" departments (infrastructure and tech teams are the worst) Constant reorganizations exhaust employees (4 in a year for the team I was in) Myopic product focus = huge tech debt Waterfall SDLC (morning scrum does not make you Agile) Too many high-performing individual contributors elevated to managers w/out training and mentoring Impossibly Byzantine departments make it impossible to tackle large tech problems without involving 15 departments If you are mid-level in your career, go somewhere else. You likely have a family, who you will feel guilty about neglecting. The pay will be okay, but the perks (free shirts, videogames everywhere, food, etc.) are for kids straight out of college. I'd rather pack a lunch and buy my own clothes - and I don't need videogames anywhere. Prepare for the office politics, which were easily the worst I've ever seen. Take direction well, be an excel wizard (product managers), and you should be fine.