Cryptic Studios Recruitment Interview

MMORPG.com was able to track down several Cryptic Studios employees for a short interview about the company’s recruitment process.

Q: What’s it like working in the online gaming industry, and at Cryptic specifically?

Michael Lewis: Game players must think its one of the cushiest jobs in the world- but take a look at a typical game developer’s resume and you’ll see a lot of movement. It can be a very ‘˜Hollywood’ environment, with people getting used, abused, and occasionally made into rock-stars.

At Cryptic, we aim for balance: work-life, art-craft, innovation-timeliness. These are just a few of the balancing acts we perform on a daily basis. Great work is expected, but there’s no place for “prima donnas”. We’re pretty relaxed about work hours and we allow for play-time at work (you should see our new game room!), but it’s all in the context of getting your job done on time.

Jack Emmert: There’s no (down time.) We can’t just sit back and relax for a month or so after we release a game. Why? Because product launch is when the hard work really begins. Development is almost tame compared to keeping an online game working. Besides, we need to feed the game a continuous supply of new content. Since the release of City of Heroes, I think we’ve added more content than was in the game at release!

Bruce Rogers: I think programming online games is one of the most interesting and difficult jobs available in software today. We write big systems that need to work reliably with thousands of users. Unlike some places that might just throw bodies at a problem, we try to get a small number of great people, and let each work on a major piece of the system.

Victor Wachter: Even though it’s not all fun and games, we do get to work on products that we ourselves want to play, which makes the job really exciting and fun. It creates a unique work atmosphere that I enjoy going to every day. In my previous life, working in the corporate dotcom environment, I was hard-pressed to find somebody who would understand gamer points or what a d20 was. Not only do I get to work around people who are actually interested in these things, but these are part of the job.

That said, it’s also challenging work. We’re developing products and services with schedules and budgets, just like most other industries. It’s an ongoing challenge, and it requires smart people to help us get through and deliver the best game possible.