[2020] Just came across this on Glassdoor and have to feel a bit sad for the devs!

GUESS AGAIN BUDDY

thank you to everyone leaving well wishes in the comments and my DMs, the love is real <3. I personally am doing fantastic, please stop pinging me.

I'll chime in on this because a lot of this falls on me as the leader of the Apex team, but I truly believe Respawn has it's employee's best interest and health in mind, and always has.

Transitioning to WFH all of a sudden during a pandemic was indeed very hard on the team, took some getting accustomed to, and we all certainly had never gone through this before so we're all in some uncharted territory. We certainly didn't have the tools, tech, or systems in place to make a smooth transition to going from several hundred person team on the same campus to a completely remote studio. During this transition, I knew that not only was work going to be more difficult and less productive, but people would also be dealing with a scary global pandemic. Add to that the pressures even in a normal environment of making a live service game and we were set up for likely the biggest challenge we've ever faced, and are still facing as we continue to work from our homes.

As the Apex team leader I was vocal every day telling people to only work as much as they can. This was reiterated by Studio leadership, and EA leadership as well. Many have kids at home since schools are closed, or maybe their work environment isn't comfortable, they don't have a suitable home PC, or they have to take care of sick family members. Heck, even in an ideal work from home office it's exhausting to sit in the same spot all day and have endless zoom meetings! We're all learning how hard this is together, as a team. I'll tell you what, I never thought it would be so difficult! Add in tens of millions of fans who are chomping at the bit for more great content and the pressure is on!

Respawn and EA put many benefits in place to make sure employees were being taken care of. Unlimited paid time off if you were not feeling well (physically or mentally) or taking care of someone, reimbursement for any purchases to make working from home easier or more comfortable, additional pay each paycheck to cover increased energy or internet bills, flex work hours, the list goes on.

Regarding deadlines and delays, I was very vocal to the team about their deadlines. Like a broken record I continuously asked that people speak up to their managers or producers if they will not be able to get their work done on time without crunching. Delays would be ok, we just need to know one is needed. Remember that odd 2 week delay when season 4 was supposed to end, and then magically an additional 2 weeks was added to the end of the season with no weekly challenges? Yeah, that was because I delayed Season 5 by 2 weeks. That also had a trickling effect of many other much longer delays, but I won't go into details as it's mainly for unannounced content.

I'm definitely not trying to say this person who wrote the review is wrong, and I'm not defending myself against the review. They're absolutely right in how they felt, and they were clearly working too much, despite being told it was ok to miss their deadlines. The problem is not with the intent of Respawn's leadership, we've got everyone's best interest in mind. The one thing I've learned about the team during this pandemic is that the team is filled with a bunch of rock stars and do-ers. Nobody wants to be the person to raise their hand and say they're not going to hit their deadline. Nobody wants to be the one who got a feature delayed. Nobody wants to let their teammates down, or let the fans down. Everyone wants to fix that bug, finish that cool new character, or get that new gamemode up and running, and will crunch themselves unknowingly to get it done. That's how dedicated this team is, they're amazing. Because of this, all of us leaders on the team have learned to better look for the signs, check-in more regularly with the developers, and push features back proactively after reading the signals, instead of waiting for someone to raise their hand.

Are we perfect? No, of course not. Does Respawn and EA 100% care more about the health of the team than the game and its profits? Absolutely, even in non-pandemic times. As one of the original Respawners I can honestly tell you that Respawn (and EA) has been a great place to be over the past 10 years and is a place that puts the people first.

ing failure not only to them but yourself. Read the room and don't just take their word on it. In my expe

There are a lot of non leaders people can speak to, but still nobody wants to admit failure, I get it. Reading a room is hard when you're not all in a room anymore, but I agree. That's one of the challenges for sure. Working remote over zoom removes the personal aspect of working together, so it presents new challenges. Like I said, we've got great intent and have had a few misses along the way. We learn and get better, that's all you can do.

Nah it's a Mozambique so I'll be fine :)

Thank you and looking forward to seeing your application! Would be happy to chat with you sometime if you ever feel like talking with someone in the industry that might have some insights for you.

I gotta say, it was really sad to read this post. I hope however this dev is reaches out for help soon before making a really tough decision. 

Of course my opinion will sound biased but for what it's worth, I can honestly say that I personally feel very supported by my teammates and my leaders. Respawn is not a perfect place but damn do they put the well-being of their developers as a really high priority.

Working from home has been incredibly challenging. I'm not sure many can even begin to understand just how demanding it is to have endless zoom meetings in order to keep the game going and players happy and for those of us that are parents...well let's just say that teachers have never been more missed than now. But during this time, and I can only speak for myself and myself only, I have never felt more supported and understood. I've never felt that my mental state was in second priority to a deadline and I've personally experience both EA and Respawn going above and beyond to try and make this tough time as accommodating as they can.

Is it possible that other developers are going through a harder time than me? Of course!! And I'm sure I'm going through a harder time than others, everyone adapts and reacts differently to any given situation but the common denominator here is that I truly feel that Respawn is ready to listen and adjust.

So again, I really hope that whoever this developer is, if they happen to read this post, please reach out to your lead soon! I have no doubt that you will be heard and be taken care of.

We use it all.

You’re way off. We are constantly pushing features back as needed, encouraging breaks and no working after hours, and doing far less game updates than you all demand, despite you all calling us lazy on here everyday.

We do have network engineers and we are hiring for that position as well. [email protected]

It’s very hard to know what people are doing when you’re working from home. It’s not like we can actually see these people in the office late hours, that’s why at some point if you’re working too much you have to speak up or else nobody knows.

Our team is very close, like a family. There is no fear or losing your job and no crunch culture, and we are open and honest with each other all the time and never avoid difficult conversations. It’s actually a very good culture that has kept Respawn a great place to work since day one.

Sometimes when you have hundreds of employees you’re going to occasionally have an upset one despite making our best efforts. This person decided to write a review online instead of talking to their peers or manager first which is unfortunate.

We are accepting remote hire. It would be great if you applied and spoke to the team themselves. You’d have an opportunity to talk to them about anything you’d like and hopefully end up working with us!

level 2 max breh XD

were working from home, so you dont have to worry aboot commute!

in all seriousness the covid thang has made a lot of people realize that you can live wherever you want and still work with cool teams, and weve hired a number of people all over the country since corona started, and they get to just stay where they are :D

if you are an extremely cool person we might just make a position for you, I seent it happen!

[email protected]

I recently left my position as a game designer on Apex at Respawn, for entirely personal reasons, and I'm able to speak freely about my time there.

Respawn is a wonderful place to work. The game director, u/HkySk8r187, is telling the truth. Since February, he and other managers in both Respawn and EA constantly told us to take care of our health and families, not overwork to meet deadlines, to communicate how we're feeling, etc.

I would give Respawn a 5/5 glassdoor review. Great crew.