Pros
Relatively safe to work for in terms of stability. There have been redundancies in the past like many studios, but the studio doesn’t appear to be in danger of closure any time soon. As a work-for-hire studio with many projects in development it can use other projects to offset any financial difficulties encountered – not guaranteed but certainly helps to mitigate against any financial blows. It’s a family friendly studio, overtime does happen but in my experience its asked for rather than being imposed. Of course when I say ‘asked for’ I use this lightly. The reality is that you still have to do it, but being approached respectfully is certainly preferred. Choosing not to work overtime results in much smaller yearly bonuses. Though it should be said even the high bonuses do not equal the amount of overtime hours. (note: overtime as like many other UK studios is unpaid). Producers fight for their team against bad client decisions (or atleast it does on my team). Out of all the places I have worked this is something of a rarity and it may be Sumo’s best quality. Rather than producers paying lip-service to clients they recognize this is bad for the studio and will fight unreasonable demands to protect the team from any fallout. In many respects the producers are easier to work with than the game developers. Variety of projects, styles and designs. From AAA to smaller styled games. Sheffield tends to have a bad reputation but it’s not warranted. The city has changed much over the years, there is always lots to do and with the peak district being so close its great for outdoor sports. Accommodation is also significantly cheaper (though its increasing), a lower cost of living is a real plus. Flexi-time, (but not without its issues, see below)
Cons
Because the studio is safe to work for then it attracts comfortable developers who are not particularly keen on pushing their craft, many have only worked for one or two studios limiting their experience. Game features are implemented with a ‘what can we get away with’ attitude as opposed to ‘what will play / feel / look amazing’. It must be noted the ‘what will be amazing’ approach tends to come at a cost of longer hours. It’s a difficult balance to achieve and few studios get it right but Sumo’s bias is in favor of playing it a little too safe. This undermines their efforts to become a triple A studio. At Sumo designers don’t just design game features but also how these features are made from a technical perspective, this causes issues if the designer isn’t particularly tech or art savvy, often wanting features to be made in a way that isn’t particularly flexible or visually appealing. Since Sumo come from a racing background then their understanding of how game features are built in other genres is often skewed. This is compounded by the problem that a number of Sumo employees are reluctant to listen and learn from developers who bring experience from elsewhere. In my experience while middle management are relatively easy to work with, there are a number of ground-floor developers who are incredibly difficult to work with. Tasks are given to whoever is available, this can mean someone who is under qualified will be handed the responsibility to take on something way above their skill level. This itself could be helped if there was a type of mentor / buddy system – but there is no such thing. Often this will result in some of the poorest game systems I’ve ever encountered. My lead never approaches me to checkup on how things are progressing. Yearly reviews tend to be an afterthought, that’s not to say they are not conducted seriously but they feel more like a gesture of goodwill as opposed to a process that helps define career paths and personal growth. Reviews will be delayed studio wide if there are other more pressing matters. For instance in 2017 we were informed that reviews / bonuses would be delayed due to some key milestones. Pay rises and career growth isn’t tracked and there is no clear route for employees hoping to develop further. Parking is very limited and its divided into people with allocated spaces and people without. This means its difficult for employees without an allocated space to take full advantage of the flexi-time system since if you arrive later then you’ll find the parking is completely full. Studio management will claim they are taking steps to help the situation but since management have allocated parking there is little incentive to solve the problem. You can call the front desk who are tasked with helping people find parking spots but doing this too often usually leads to them ignoring you. Again a gesture of good-will but without any true commitment.