Vantaggi
There are some genuinely talented developers on the team that you can learn from. The 401k was decent.
Svantaggi
I was lied to in my initial interview. I was told the only layoffs they do are based on performance. Yet when Snail Games USA recently did layoffs, employees were told that there were not performance based. I was also told they hadn't done crunch in 2-3 years, and their recent job listings claim that they prioritize work life balance. However, multiple teams were asked to do large amounts of crunch. Review meetings with the CEO went into all hours of the night.
The CEO makes demands for deadlines and new game features that don't make sense, and then asks why the game isn't fun or doesn't look good. When he has feedback, he will just state that something looks bad but can't give any actionable feedback as to why he doesn't like it, leaving confusion for the team.
Snail gave statements saying that they were not using generative AI for the making of the ARK Aquatica game, while that is in fact, not true. AI was used for so many areas, and developers were forced to use AI per instruction of the CEO. To be clear, generative AI was used in the development of the game time and time again, from concepts to actual assets, not just in the original trailer. Fans were outraged when Snail released an all AI generated trailer for the game, yet this trailer was approved by the CEO.
The same AI process is being used on their original game, For The Stars. The leadership on this team also doesn't give appropriate feedback. One of poor developers was told to "not make the female look ugly" and when this developer asked if there was anything specific they wanted to change, they were just told, "the CEO doesn't like ugly females."
There is no path for career opportunities. You never get asked what you would like to work on or learn. If you manage to get put in a leadership position, you will just be expected to give more crunch and get burnt out.
Those in 'leadership' positions do not give proper direction to their team, and the team is just expected to figure things out on their own. There are no clear decisions or solutions, and decisions come from multiple people without clear leadership really even being established. Trying to get actionable direction or feedback doesn't work, and you'll instead be pointed to random videos and asked to 'make it look like this.'
Outsourcers aren't trusted to be able to integrate things into engine. Working with them causes more problems because they aren't given proper documentation or instructions. Internal developers have to pick up their work when contracts end, trying to figure out where they left off when the CEO decides he wants to change his mind on something.
You'll be asked to work on things that are outside the scope of your skillset and knowledge, be told to figure it out, and then be reprimanded when you can't meet the quality standards the CEO wants because you weren't set up to be successful in the first place.
Software licenses can take months to obtain, and team members were told to use trial versions or use their student software licenses, which is illegal.
If you're out sick, you'll still get tagged in messages and expected to keep up with what is going on with tasks, adding to the lack of work / life balance.
If you ask for proper documentation, you'll likely be told it's not available. There is no standard for file structure, naming, etc. which results in chaos for the internal team and outsourcers. People will play through game demos and just randomly post requests in Slack channels without making proper tickets for tracking, and they won't even tag anyone specific. The team is just expected to figure it out.
Some people are allowed to work remote, and some people are forced to come into the office. There is no standard, just whatever the CEO decides to approve or not.