|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Mar 31st, 2016 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
Artist
|
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
artist
|
|
Genuinely some nice and talented people. Company outings.
|
Terribly unorganized and untrusting management
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
|
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
|
No
|
No
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Dec 8th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
Artist
|
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
Want to make games? Don't work here.
|
|
Genuinely some nice and talented people. Company outings.
|
Terribly unorganized and untrusting management. Petty infighting and drama. No scheduling or accountability encouraged. The owner/creative director is unfocused and frankly, doesn't have enough experience in actual game development. Hiring of inadequate and under performing leads. Actual physical altercations among staff. Sexist and racist jokes allowed by HR
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
DISAPPROVE
|
5.0
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
2.0
|
1.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
Hire some people who have actually been involved in making successful games and let them do their jobs.
|
0.0
|
[]
|
|
No
|
No
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Aug 12th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
Head of Entertainment
|
Sherman Oaks, CA
|
|
I finally have my dream job!
|
|
Creative freedom, transparency with upper management, anti-corporate office culture, zero red tape, 100% health benefits. Human Resources is very helpful and quickly responsive to all needs and concerns for their employees. I feel like I'm a part of a family more than just a team of like minded creative individuals. I look forward to coming to work every morning and I never feel like my time is being wasted here. They offer flex hours, meaning you can arrive anytime between 8am and 11am as long as you contribute your full 8 hours for the day. Which is very convenient for parents or people that need to run errands in the morning or evening. Unlimited Paid Time Off! Yes, you don't end up with 2 weeks out of the year to go on vacation with your family or friends. If you need the time off, request it, get it approved, and it's yours. They don't want you to feel guilty for wanting to be at home if you really want to be at home. Mandatory birthdays and anniversaries off for you and your spouse, and kids. Also, foosball table.
|
Limited parking spaces and internet bandwidth. I can't seem to load up a YouTube video during lunch because everyone is playing Battlefield 4.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
0.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
The free Red Vines need to stop. I just cant.
|
1.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
1.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Aug 10th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
|
Sherman Oaks, CA
|
|
Startup chaos, but creatively rewarding.
|
|
For a brand new game company, we are already working on new IP, which is exciting. It gives us a lot of room for creative expression and every team member is able to contribute to the overall vision. The goal of employees having a balance of home and work lives instead of the typical crunch culture is also great compared to other studios.
I can't wait until people see what we've been up to.
|
There's sometimes a naively optimistic view of the team's capabilities for our size vs. the scale of the projects we want to tackle. This can sometimes lead to tighter deadlines and additional stress with people getting pulled in many directions at once. The open PTO policy can create some challenges with team members able to leave for long periods during key sprints. Giving people that extra freedom is great, but many departments don't have the depth to support that just yet.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
3.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
|
0.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Aug 8th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
|
|
|
Avoid!
|
|
For the most part, the people in the trenches just want to make a great game. Robert has a team of talented individuals, and if he used them properly could make something truly great.
|
No direction as a studio. Sleazy decision making. Alot of stuff happens under the hood that the employees are lied to about. A skeleton team trying to make a massive game. A dictatorship. We are just hired to grind, not to inform or help consult when it comes to overall game decisions. Feedback is a very negative experience and not something they welcome.
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
NEGATIVE
|
-1.0
|
DISAPPROVE
|
13.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
Robert needs to take a step back, commit to a game pass or fail, see it through, let the people he hired who have real world video game development experience (not just cool movies) make the games. He needs to get a rough skin and let the people go who can't do their jobs and ultimately cost the studio money.
At first glance Robotoki looks like a pretty incredible place to work but once you've actually become integrated into the culture you realize really fast that it's a video game studio that doesn't know how to make video games. You have at the helm of this ship Robert Bowling of PR fame. He's a salesman, and not a driver, but he constantly shoves himself in the driver seat of almost every discipline there. He's incapable of leaving the actual game development to the professionals he hired to do so. He makes unanimous decisions that effect the game as a whole, without even consulting with the people he's hired to do so. Once he makes up his mind on something, he will...not...budge. His decisions are often based on whatever game or movie he played or watched the night before so the direction changes almost weekly. He runs a dictatorship, but has the ability to convince you that it's a freethinking environment. He'll pull everyone into a room and make it sound like it's a meeting in which he is allowing us to help sway the decision one way or another, but then turns out to just be more of an "im telling you this is how it's going to be" rather than a "i want your input". He thinks that problems are something he can throw money at to fix, and not just better decision making skills.
Robert Bowling is unwilling to live with the responsibilities of running a video game studio, but wants all of the rewards. He's unwilling to actually deal with the face to face conflict like letting people go who just can't do their jobs, and redirecting people to stay on task. This studio has failed milestone upon milestone for the plethora of games they're working on with no direction, yet he still blames it on the publishers when it's clearly incompetent staff that make too much money to let go.
The stress levels are so high, that there have been many occasions when employees have outwardly yelled at one another, and even gotten into face to face shouting matches. The stress comes from lack of direction, a bad relationship between Robotoki and their publishers, and the breakup in communication.
The pay is terrible. You had to have been working on Call of Duty, already be a millionaire, or work on a successful movie to make any kind of descent money at this studio.
As far as growing pains go, growing pains don't last almost 3 years. Robert is running this studio into the ground and is unwilling to make the necessary moves to ensure that it actually ships a game. The direction of this studio has changed almost constantly because the studio failed in ways that the professionals he hired warned him about. But he is unwilling to not only listen, but act.
|
0.0
|
[{"countHelpful": 0, "languageId": null, "userJobTitle": "President", "__typename": "EmployerResponse", "originalLanguageId": null, "id": 542914, "responseDateTime": "2014-08-11T12:51:24.113", "translationMethod": null, "response": "This review calls out several issues which go against the core values and culture of our studio and are very alarming. I encourage you, if you are truly a current employee, to reach out to myself directly, or your lead, or HR to help address the lack of input you feel you may have in the studio direction or projects.\r\n\r\nEmpowering our team to be an instrument of change in our company direction, policies, and projects is our biggest strength and if you feel you are not experiencing that empowerment, we want to strive to do anything within our power to help you be a component of that change rather than a victim of it.", "responseOriginal": null, "countNotHelpful": 0}]
|
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
0.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Aug 8th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
|
Sherman Oaks, CA
|
|
Relaxing Work Place
|
|
Super laid back environment and upper management
Encourages individual creativity and new ideas
Not set in their ways
|
A flat organization is great for someone who can take and equally give solid feedback without being or feeling criticized/critical.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
1.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
Open PTO policy has been the highlight as I can take time off whenever I want. Some people seem like they are gone more than present.
|
1.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Aug 8th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
|
Sherman Oaks, CA
|
|
You're more than a job title.
|
|
Job functions aren't a prison here.
There's a real desire to avoid the typical burn cycle and stick to 40 hour weeks.
HR is super flexible about letting you have the time necessary to do what you need to do outside of work.
Most of the staff are pretty senior in the industry so there's a large knowledge base and broad swath of experience to draw from.
|
We're still finding our way. The intention is to create a studio where artists can be creative and contribute more than just being cogs in a machine, executing the Director's vision. But there is some degree of chaos as we figure out how to make this work without being total anarchy. The culture is a work in progress.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
1.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
Keeping the attention on creative freedom for everyone but focusing more on process will make running the studio feel less like herding cats.
|
1.0
|
[{"countHelpful": 0, "languageId": null, "userJobTitle": "President", "__typename": "EmployerResponse", "originalLanguageId": null, "id": 542465, "responseDateTime": "2014-08-08T17:03:11.293", "translationMethod": null, "response": "Thanks for the feedback and review. We will continue to strive for that balance between creative freedom and structured development in order to give you the ability to influence design but also have a clear guide on what needs to be done.", "responseOriginal": null, "countNotHelpful": 0}]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Aug 8th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
Lead FX Artist
|
Encino, CA
|
|
Great Indie Games Company
|
|
There’s a lot of opportunity to make the job what you want, and take advantage of your skills. You can do much more than your job title. Ideas are listen to and debated from any roll on any topic. Self-managing is great, you basically say what you think needs to be done then you do it. It’s a small company which means each person is important, and it feels that way. The talent across the board makes me happy to be part of the team. Maybe most importantly, I think we’re making fun games.
|
It’s still a young company with growing pains, so it’s not a super tight a ship yet. The care and passion people have can lead to frustrations. That’s generally very solvable, but it still happens. The company culture is a big part of working here, it’s kind of make or break. If people expect to be told what to do every step of the way they will generally not do as well.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
2.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
Because of the openness leadership isn't always dialed in right away. It’s supposed to be leads lead, but there is some producing tasks that can be a missing link, especially when artist manage artist.
|
1.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Aug 8th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
|
Sherman Oaks, CA
|
|
A TRUE team work environment, AMAZING work/life balance, and I never new senior management could exist like at Robotoki!
|
|
You aren't confined to your job title. Your views/opinions MATTER and aren't shot down. They care about your family just as much as they care about you as an employee. Overall amazing benefits and Robotoki sets the bar for studio culture!
|
If you are looking for a more corporate structured environment, Robotoki will be a challenging place to work at. You have to manage your time and wont have someone always on your case to get things done. I know many people are used to work environments like that and aren't able to adapt to Robotoki's studio culture. Also in more structured work environments people like to use titles to their advantage, and at Robotoki, that will not work. You must be able to be a flexible team player always and listen to others opinions/views even if they are the office assistant.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
3.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
Keep pushing forward with your great morals!
|
1.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
2.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|
|
private:robotoki
|
https://www.glassdoor.com?employer_id=802199
|
Aug 8th, 2014 12:00AM
|
Open
|
Open
|
Robotoki
|
Business Development
|
Sherman Oaks, CA
|
|
Great work environment that promotes creative freedom, mutual cooperation, and outside-the-box progressive thinking.
|
|
It all starts with the CEO. His passion, energy and drive are apparent every day, and that becomes contagious if you let it. He trusts each individual to contribute and take leadership, without hounding them or micro-managing them...it's all about letting your results speak for you. Great vision, coupled with step-by-step pragmatic execution, and a very open environment where everyone's opinion and input counts in a significant way. They are also very understanding of personal circumstances, letting you adjust your work hours accordingly, with a very flexible PTO policy to accommodate any personal need for missing work or being late for reasons such as doctor's visits, picking up your kids, etc.
|
For me, traffic is really the only issue, since I have to deal with the 134/101 freeways in order to get here, which is very heavy in the mornings and afternoons.
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
POSITIVE
|
1.0
|
APPROVE
|
1.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
|
802199
|
Open
|
|
1.0
|
[]
|
REGULAR
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
1.0
|
|
|
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Apr 13th, 2021 09:49PM
|
Robotoki
|
|
Financial Services
|