Level 5 Has Some Seriously Pimpin' Offices

[John Funk]

Level 5 Has Some Seriously Pimpin' Offices

If you haven't ever wanted to make games at Professor Layton developer Level-5, you will after seeing where the team all works.

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The Japanese games industry has been going through some rough times as of late [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/103614-Dead-Rising-2-Producer-Blasts-Japanese-Game-Industry], but do you know which developer seems to be doing well for itself? A little outlet called Level-5, for one.

The developer of the well-received Professor Layton series, the less-well-received White Knight Chronicles, and the incredibly popular Inazuma Eleven soccer series - alongside work on some of the more recent Dragon Quest titles - Level-5 is one of the most successful Japanese development houses in recent memory.

And to prove it, the developers have one swank pad. new "company navigator," [http://www.siliconera.com/2010/09/24/what-do-level-5s-offices-look-like/] and this place just looks - for lack of a better word - pimp as all hell. Futuristic-looking conference rooms and statues of Yoda aside, this almost looks more like a really upscale apartment or nightclub than it does a development studio! But then you see the motion cap hall and realize, "Oh yeah, people make games here."

For pure nerd paradise it doesn't quite beat out Blizzard's campus [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/95528-A-100-Photo-Look-at-Blizzards-Awesome-Offices] in my eyes, but what Level 5 lacks in nerd cred all over the walls it more than makes up for in pure style.

If only all offices could be so cool.

(Siliconera [http://www.level5.co.jp/creator/navigator.html])

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[TLatshaw]

Confirmed: Level-5 is Heaven.

 

[Casual Shinji]

This must be where game developers go when they die.

 

[Jon Etheridge]

Pretty cool, but lacks the crazy amount of Nerf guns, toys and Russ Pitts lying around Escapist HQ.

 

[Irridium]

Your average Level 5 employee:

Spoiler

You know, more or less.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Daaaamn, that is fucking sweet.

Well, they deserve to work in style.

 

[John Funk]

Pretty cool, but lacks the crazy amount of Nerf guns, toys and Russ Pitts lying around Escapist HQ.

It's true, I don't see a single Gundam shelf there anywhere. Clearly our HQ is superior.

 

[Armored Prayer]

God damn, those are some pretty neat offices. I'd like to work in a place like that.

Its like something you see in those fancy furniture catalogs.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

How many rooms were featured that seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with work of any kind?

I can see a lot of lunch breaks being taken in-house, somehow.

 

[coldfrog]

Dude that Gundam shelf was just concentrated wow. By no stretch can your desk be called a work space, it is a shelf of awesome pure and simple. Any work that actually occurs there is merely consequential.

These are rather nice offices, but in that "nice" way, you know? Like a design firm, or architectural company, as compared to a TV station or little creative boutique. Sure they're nice, but where's the retro console hooked up to a 40 inch?

Where's the heart?

In the games.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Pretty cool, but lacks the crazy amount of Nerf guns, toys and Russ Pitts lying around Escapist HQ.

It's true, I don't see a single Gundam shelf there anywhere. Clearly our HQ is superior.

I think it's the vast amounts of Gundam figures that infuse escapist articles with the "win" we know and love...

You know... That and your awesome writing talent... Right?

 

[samsonguy920]

How many rooms were featured that seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with work of any kind?

I can see a lot of lunch breaks being taken in-house, somehow.

Heck with that, I don't see anybody going home for days on end.
Bean bags!

 

[Woodsey]

Never heard of them.

Nice offices though - they must have some strippers in there somewhere.

 

[Jared]

Wish my company would invest in our offices to make them as nice as that!

 

[Delock]

Never heard of them.

Nice offices though - they must have some strippers in there somewhere.

However, since it is a JRPG designer, they're more likely to be models for the characters' outfits... EXCLUDING LAYTON! Dear God, that almost conjured up the absolute worst mental image.

Is it strange though that some of those rooms I would have thought to be seen in Kojima's offices first though (especially some of the more circular rooms)?

 

[icyneesan]

So they can afford to have a pimped out pad, but not release any information of WKC2?

 

[Eric the Orange]

Yeah Level 5 make good games. Other than the aforementioned Professor Layton, the made Dark Cloud 1&2, Rouge Galaxy, and Dragon Quest 8&9 (so they obviously like there cell shading "3D cartoon" art style). And are helping Studio Ghibli put out it's game. And a bunch of Japanese only games that didn't get translated.

 

[SpaceMedarotterX]

So they can afford to have a pimped out pad, but not release any information of WKC2?

What the fuck do you want information for, the game is out?