Activision
64
3.8
Activision Employee Reviews
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An exciting industry to work in with many sharp, creative and friendly people but one that exploits the graphic artists, programmers and quality assurance personnel with low pay, long hours and low job security because there is a constant supply of entry-level replacements seeking hire.
Pros
Involved at the forefront of a dynamic industry, free video games
Cons
Relatively low pay, no job security, long hours/weeks during "crunch"
Is the best company to work for because they had the best games like call of duty I forgot what they have the best games I really loved working for this company so I would really love I mean love working here
Best Job Ever! I got to work at any time during office hours. My supervisor did not boss me around. They just wanted the work to be done and in return you had freedom.
Great Company, Great Leadership but no synergy between the top and mid-level management. That reflects the employee experience at lower levels. Great place to work but might not be a great place to grow.
Working QA at Activision wasn't like any other job that I had worked at or have worked at since. It honestly kinda felt like being part of a big awkward family, and not in that stupid corporate PR "family" sort of way. Things were generally pretty laid back and friendly and the managers got to know most of the employees that they frequently worked with on a fairly personal level. The only real problems that I had with the job were things like: you might not be making enough to make the job worth your while unless you are taking the absurd overtime hours, the majority of positions above your managers will treat you like dirt and only barely allot your managers any respect at that, and that the QA position is considered seasonal but they don't tell you when your last day is so you just end up wondering when your job is going to end instead of being able to plan around it.
Pros
Sometimes offers free meals, good overtime pay, unique friendly work environment and culture, long breaks
Cons
Rude higherups, never know what you are going to be doing when you come in, doesn't pay well without overtime
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You schedule is not your own.
Everything is steady until crunch time and the hours grow longer.
They can come in one day and say:
"HEY FROM THIS DAY FORTH EVERYONE ON THE TEAM WORKS 5pm - 5am AS OF TOMORROW!!"
and if you don't like it FIND ANOTHER JOB
Everything is steady until crunch time and the hours grow longer.
They can come in one day and say:
"HEY FROM THIS DAY FORTH EVERYONE ON THE TEAM WORKS 5pm - 5am AS OF TOMORROW!!"
and if you don't like it FIND ANOTHER JOB
Pros
- Casual and friendly work environment.
- Training prior to start.
- Ability to make a meaningful impact on AAA games, pre- and post-release.
Cons
- Long and unpredictable hours, especially during the holiday season.
- Management not particularly organized.
- Low compensation.
- Casual and friendly work environment.
- Training prior to start.
- Ability to make a meaningful impact on AAA games, pre- and post-release.
Cons
- Long and unpredictable hours, especially during the holiday season.
- Management not particularly organized.
- Low compensation.
A typical day at work would be that we were very busy everyday. What I learned was to be very responsible,careful and safety. The most enjoyable part about this job was that working with my fellow employees.
- typical day of work: help answer tickets and learn more about the Player Support team
- management was very nice and willing to teach us more about the industry
- fun environment! Most fellow employees were also gamers and we got along really well, but they're also friendly if you're not a gamer!
- awesome kitchen: free snacks and drinks!
- kind of wish that we did more in-depth tasks but it was just a 3 month internship so I understand there's not much time for that
- management was very nice and willing to teach us more about the industry
- fun environment! Most fellow employees were also gamers and we got along really well, but they're also friendly if you're not a gamer!
- awesome kitchen: free snacks and drinks!
- kind of wish that we did more in-depth tasks but it was just a 3 month internship so I understand there's not much time for that
Testing and ensuring that each video game title is release as cleanly as possible with as few bugs and errors as possible.
Working together as a team to ensure proper programming and debugging.
Working together as a team to ensure proper programming and debugging.
Pros
Intense work, paid overtime.
Cons
Heavy workload, sixty hours a week, strong need to meet deadlines.
A fun company to grow with and be a part of. Management that really understands family life and are very personable people who treat you more like a person than a number and also help you with typical questions one may have when new to video game testing. all in all a great company to work for.
Dynamic work environment in a fast moving industry. Activision is an industry leader with tremendous IP, strong leadership, great work-life balance, and a great culture.
Fun place to work,
Great business, lot of opportunities,
Great management and executive team,
Global company,
great culture,
Entrepreneurship spirit,
Fast Pace
Great business, lot of opportunities,
Great management and executive team,
Global company,
great culture,
Entrepreneurship spirit,
Fast Pace
It's all about personal relationsips in this company. It doesn't matter how talented, skilled and intelligent you are in the specific expertise you are passionate for. There will always be a person who has much less skillset and talent but does his best job on politics and lobbying behind the doors to edge out others.
Pros
Great parties
Cons
Very poor management, low quality coworkers, very poor assesment of employee talent and contribution.
One of the worst companies I've worked for and Quality Assurance is the epitome of a thankless job.
The pay is terrible. They posted 7.5 billion dollars in 2018 and just recently increased tester salaries to a whole $12 an hour. There are signs at retail positions in my area for $14 - $15.
That is how little the company values QA. Metrics are the name of the game yet QA employees are not rewarded for meeting miles stones with number of bugs submitted. Oh our bosses get reamed out when a critical showstopper is missed, who then in turn ream us out as a group, but catch something egregious just before a major games expo...Pat on the head and a "good job"
Developers talk down to us in comments, insult our intelligence, and treat us as a nessecary evil.
Burn out is common, turn over is huge. Good workers are rewarded with more responsibility for no extra pay. This adds to resentment, burn out and quitting. Bad workers are common and not fired nearly fast enough because you still need a crew to sail your ship even if the majority of them are useless.
Don't come here thinking this is your "foot-in-the-door" like some many naive kids I see. You will never get out of QA. The CEO or some executive will never come over and see you doodling during your break and be so impressed by your subpar weeb drawings that you are elevated to a character artist. QA is where dreams and dreamers go to die.
You could make lead, or project lead maybe. But the company has routinely laid off large groups of QA positions when profits didn't meet their unrealistic expectations. So even - more...
The pay is terrible. They posted 7.5 billion dollars in 2018 and just recently increased tester salaries to a whole $12 an hour. There are signs at retail positions in my area for $14 - $15.
That is how little the company values QA. Metrics are the name of the game yet QA employees are not rewarded for meeting miles stones with number of bugs submitted. Oh our bosses get reamed out when a critical showstopper is missed, who then in turn ream us out as a group, but catch something egregious just before a major games expo...Pat on the head and a "good job"
Developers talk down to us in comments, insult our intelligence, and treat us as a nessecary evil.
Burn out is common, turn over is huge. Good workers are rewarded with more responsibility for no extra pay. This adds to resentment, burn out and quitting. Bad workers are common and not fired nearly fast enough because you still need a crew to sail your ship even if the majority of them are useless.
Don't come here thinking this is your "foot-in-the-door" like some many naive kids I see. You will never get out of QA. The CEO or some executive will never come over and see you doodling during your break and be so impressed by your subpar weeb drawings that you are elevated to a character artist. QA is where dreams and dreamers go to die.
You could make lead, or project lead maybe. But the company has routinely laid off large groups of QA positions when profits didn't meet their unrealistic expectations. So even - more...
QA testing at Activision involves some video game playing but mostly involves searching and writing bugs as well as marking off testing in lists and verifying bug fixes. It's an office job involving video games more than a job about playing video games. This job requires a lot of flexibility as communication from other offices can be sparse and unclear which can lead to a lot of waiting to be able to do things. What we are doing can be changed at a moment's notice. The overall organization can feel scattered and all over the place.
What's more is, because our testing office is nearly constantly hiring, newer people always outnumber people who have been here a while. Many people pick up the job quite quickly, but the imbalance of new people unsure of how to do things leads to a lot of mistakes and things falling through the cracks. In many ways, it feels like more experienced testers still do the bulk of the work despite the ginormous team we have on staff.
I have met a lot of really good people doing this job, some of which are the best coworkers I've ever had, but that doesn't make up for the daily frustrations of this job. We had been on crunch for 4 months (12hr days 6 days a week) and that wore everyone down substantially and eliminates any healthy work/home balance. There are some opportunities for advancement, but for the average tester, there is no hope of moving up even if you do a lot of the work people above you do already. Especially with the quantity of new people this can mean having more responsibilities and doing a lot more leading without a pay raise - more...
What's more is, because our testing office is nearly constantly hiring, newer people always outnumber people who have been here a while. Many people pick up the job quite quickly, but the imbalance of new people unsure of how to do things leads to a lot of mistakes and things falling through the cracks. In many ways, it feels like more experienced testers still do the bulk of the work despite the ginormous team we have on staff.
I have met a lot of really good people doing this job, some of which are the best coworkers I've ever had, but that doesn't make up for the daily frustrations of this job. We had been on crunch for 4 months (12hr days 6 days a week) and that wore everyone down substantially and eliminates any healthy work/home balance. There are some opportunities for advancement, but for the average tester, there is no hope of moving up even if you do a lot of the work people above you do already. Especially with the quantity of new people this can mean having more responsibilities and doing a lot more leading without a pay raise - more...
The work environment at Activision is extremely toxic. The entire rewards and recognition system is based on favoritism. Teamwork is almost non-existent and employees are enticed to compete against each other "The battle for the best idea".
Excluding the few elites, the average tenure at Activision is about 1.5 years.
Don't waste valuable years of your career at that place. 95% never get promoted.
Excluding the few elites, the average tenure at Activision is about 1.5 years.
Don't waste valuable years of your career at that place. 95% never get promoted.
Pros
Competitive pay
Cons
Just about everything else
Activision aspires to be an innovative, leading company and while many people there are working extremely hard to make that happen, leadership isn't fully aligned and the day-to-day is taxing. The meeting-overloaded culture means little time to do work, so you are expected to be always-on. Most people are given the freedom to work remotely as needed, and be off-site to look-after kids, but it's really case-to-case and overall the culture doesn't seem to have kept up with the fact that the longer-tenured employees are now married with kids and need a more realistic balance. Career pathing is non-existent and when organization shifts occur there is little to no thought put into rolling them out to employees. Many people work hard after the fact to manage through those organization changes, but the transitions in recent months/years have been very bumpy.
I loved working for this company the work was consistent never a time when you did not have something to do fast paste is my joy it make the time fly by the only thing I wished for was overtime
Pros
Consistent work fliw
Cons
No ivertime
Depending on your project, you will find yourself working 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, for weeks or month prior to launch. The Leads are rather hands off, leaving things in the hands of senior testers. These senior testers are generally decent at delegation of tasks, but there were multiple instances of normal testers having to waste time due to their inefficiency at getting things done. 12 hour days would not be needed if the people in charge were more on top of getting things done. Overtime pay is nice, but the base pay leaves much to be desired.
60
out of 100
Comparably
Diversity Score
The Comparably Diversity Score tracks how positively diverse employees rate their experience at Activision.
