Firaxis makes the news again!

[warpstorm]

I would love to have a job a Friaxis, man how do they get any work done,

Actually, most of them don't have time to actually play games as much as they'd like.

 

[aaglo]

Hey, FIRAXIS!
Can I get a job from there?
And can I work from home (or should I move there?)


That sounds like a good place to work in. Especially since I work as a Research engineer with about 29000$/year (so what good was all the education I had )

 

[warpstorm]

If you are serious (any of you) and really think you are good enough, send them your resume. They will consider it. I will warn you that they get hundreds of resumes, so you have to be good.

 

[Longasc]

I think people get the wrong impression that working for Firaxis is like enjoying their spare-time...

I hope you understand this german wordplay in translation:

Live is hard, but without a hard one there would be no live at all...

 

[warpstorm]

I think people get the wrong impression that working for Firaxis is like enjoying their spare-time...

You are correct, working for a game company is work (but to be honest, it's better work than most I could think of).

 

[aaglo]

heh... making graphics for money would be definitely better than doing graphics for free

 

[Alexnm]

Two flops and their little paradise will crumble down...

 

[warpstorm]

True, but the owners are old enough that they might bow out of the game totally, rather than change their policies.

BTW, they've had flops (Gettysburg, Antietam, and SimGolf) and one so-so title (SMAC) so far, and only one hit. Note that I liked all of these, but none of them did much more than pay the bills (okay, SMAC turned a profit, but not enough that a big publisher like EA would make a sequel).

It's a known fact in the industry that most games will earn no royalties and the money that you get up front from the publishers is it. They aren't paying exorbitant wages and profit sharing assumes profits.

 

[microbe]

And yes, believe, Jeff Briggs *ALWAYS* thinks happy. The coke machine does indeed only charge 25 cents. (It's an old-time coke machine, too!). They forgot to mention the huge screen TV (either 52" or 72") with XBox games.

Well, free drinks (canned and bottled) for my company. So I'll pass on this one.



I hope their quality of work is superior too.

 

[Gengis Khan]

You'd if they were gonna splurge on a TV that size they'd at least have a PS2 hooked up, who wants an XBox??

 

[Alexnm]

It's a known fact in the industry that most games will earn no royalties and the money that you get up front from the publishers is it. They aren't paying exorbitant wages and profit sharing assumes profits.

If most games will earn no royalties and the money you get up front from the publishers is it, then what's the point in trying to create a *new* game? Publishers will want to invest their money in well-known franchises (Civ, Pirates) and any attempt of innovating a genre would be regarded as a risk, wouldn't it?

 

[The Last Conformist]

That would explain why so many computer games are essentially the same as a hundred older titles, only with spiffier graphics

 

[warpstorm]

If most games will earn no royalties and the money you get up front from the publishers is it, then what's the point in trying to create a *new* game? Publishers will want to invest their money in well-known franchises (Civ, Pirates) and any attempt of innovating a genre would be regarded as a risk, wouldn't it?

Hand the man a cigar! Companies like EA, Atari, and Microsoft are more interested in safe franchise titles than anything original. Original is a high risk. Nobody knows how it will sell. Just look at what the publish. It's mostly sequels or minor changes to established genres. But then again, if you look at it from their point of view you'ld probably do the same.

Occasionally, a developer can convince a big publisher that there new original title will be able to spawn a franchise.

 

[Quasar1011]

Sounds like Firaxis is having a golden age!

 

[yoshi]

A real sweat-shop they're running over there...

Ah, but does Firaxis have a daycare for parents that work there? (Unless of course none of them have kids that is--in which case a daycare would be a luxury even Briggs would probably not endorse.)

Anyway, what does Firaxis have to say about software piracy--considering this definitely lowers profits, thus the employees paricularly suffer in this case?

 

[Chieftess]

A real sweat-shop they're running over there...

Ah, but does Firaxis have a daycare for parents that work there? (Unless of course none of them have kids that is--in which case a daycare would be a luxury even Briggs would probably not endorse.)

Anyway, what does Firaxis have to say about software piracy--considering this definitely lowers profits, thus the employees paricularly suffer in this case?

They do have something like that, some program called "Firaxis Kids". I think it's pretty much they play video games on the 52" TV.

 

[Moss]

They do have something like that, some program called "Firaxis Kids". I think it's pretty much they play video games on the 52" TV.

Poor neglected kids...someone should call Human Services...

 

[Chieftess]

The only kid I saw was Sid Meier's kid when I was there, and that was because schools were closed due to the hurricane.

 

[warpstorm]

Anyway, what does Firaxis have to say about software piracy--considering this definitely lowers profits, thus the employees paricularly suffer in this case?

Anyone in the games industry (or the boxed software industry, for that matter) is against it for the reasons you stated. Less sales means less pay for the workers. Contrary to some popular opinions game developers aren't all rich. In fact, most are paid a good bit less than their business software developing counterparts.

 

[yoshi]

Hmm. What will happen to smaller companies like Firaxis when piracy becomes rampant (more so than it is now)? How will they cope with the drop in sales?


Firaxis Kids huh? Well, I'm impressed.