CULTURE

Valve and Riot are the tops, according to their own people, while EA is surprisingly decent

     

We all have our impressions of how good a video-game company is, but, for most of us, those impressions are formed mostly from personal experience as consumers and from a kind of Internet groupthink. (“Valve is good. EA is bad. Everyone knows that.”)

Here’s insight from the people in the trenches, who have an insiders’ view of exactly what goes on behind closed doors and can offer some brutally honest assessments of what it’s like to work for the giants of video gaming.

What follows is a list of the 46 significant gaming developers and publishers I picked out who have at least five ratings on Glassdoor, sorted by average rating. Glassdoor.com is a fascinating site that allows employees and former employees of virtually any company in existence – gaming or otherwise – to leave ratings and written reviews of their experiences.

Wherever possible, I used the data for the company’s North American office, since that’s the one most likely to affect readers of this site, and the one you’re most likely to work for. Also included are the approval ratings for the company’s CEO and the total number of votes cast for him.