Tech Company Grants Day Off for Portal 2 Release

[Greg Tito]

Tech Company Grants Day Off for Portal 2 Release

Tech company Dyn now grants days off work to coincide with major game releases due to the absenteeism this week for Portal 2.

We've all been guilty of such transgressions at some point in our life as gamers. Calling out of work "sick" in order to play a just-released game is a time-honored tradition, and at least one employer has finally decided to make it official. Dyn Inc. in Manchester, New Hampshire is a technology company that provides internet and email services to a wide range of clients like Twitter, Meetup, Bit.ly, Scribd, Twitpic and Wikia. After noticing a steep drop in attendance this week due to Valve's release of Portal 2, Dyn updated the official employee handbook to award an extra PTO (Paid Time Off) day that can be used for major game releases.

"As a long time Counter-Strike player and general Valve fan, I saw this one coming. I'm glad our HR department made the right decision on this," said Dyn's Edward Bender. "Seriously, we are in the midst of a hiring spree and need to be real about the people we want on our awesome growing team."

A representative from Valve said such sparse attendance was to be expected. "This comes as no surprise to us and we support Dyn's decision to do what every cutting edge workplace on the Internet, or anywhere, should be doing," said Doug Lombardi, VP of Marketing at Valve.

Dyn's statement is pretty much a tongue-in-cheek way to say that it is a cool place to work. I don't know how true that is, but any company that gives its workers time off to play games gets an A+ in my book. If you have the tech chops to work on email and DNS systems and don't mind moving to New Hampshire, I'd certainly consider applying to work at Dyn.

Now, if you'll excuse, I have to go back to building my Lego renditions of Atlas and Peabody [http://www.brothers-brick.com/2011/04/18/lego-atlas-and-p-body-from-portal-2/] on company time ...

Source: Dyn [http://dyn.com/open-dialogue/dyn-celebrates-portal-2-release-with-sweeping-change-to-employee-handbook]

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[V8 Ninja]

Can we just have international holidays whenever Valve releases a game? I would like that.

 

[teh_Canape]

Gave them the day off
... for Science!

they sent them home to practice and improve humans' co-operative performance

since we have to improve on that 6 secs advantage that robots have over us

 

[Fuselage]

Can we just have international holidays whenever Valve releases a game? I would like that.

Half-Life 3's release (Notice that I am now calling it Half-Life 3) will be celebrated every year as a holiday made to encourage releasing games faster.
Cakes shall be made to look like headcrabs.

 

[callmegreen]

This Is Just Like When That One Company did The Lipdub Thing And Abunch Of Other Company's Started doing it to bring in employees basicly by saying "LOOK AT US WE'RE HIP AND COOL COME WORK FOR US!"

 

[tkioz]

Sounds more like what we use to a call a "mental health day" at my old job, we got a few of those a year. Whenever you just felt like crap and were at the end of your robe, or just plain didn't want to go to work, you could take one, without faking a sick day.

I took one a few years ago when Serenity came out, funny thing was my boss decided to do the same thing and we ran into each other at the movie, would have been awkward if I had lied.

But seriously more and more employers are realising you get the best work out of your people if you offer this kind of stuff, everyone has had days when they just really really don't want to go to work, for whatever reason, and it's better to have the option to just call in and say that, rather then lie.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Best... boss... evar!!!!

I wonder if Google has this too?

 

[Mrsoupcup]

Is it really worth a day off? Didn't take me that long to beat, it was only about as long as Episode 2. I suppose if you factor in the co-op...
(Anyone finish the Co-op? How long did it take?)

Now Skyrim is a game I will probably need a few days off for.
[small](Seriously I have like 120+ hours in one of my saves in Oblivion)[/small]

 

[Formica Archonis]

Y'know, if I was so obsessed about a game (never have been, hope I never will be) that I'd try conning my employer out of time just so I could be one of the first people to play it <sarcasm>what an honor</sarcasm>, then I'd make it a good con. I'd call in sick at least a day ahead of time so I'd be 'sick' before the game creeped onto the managerial radar. I'd rest up the day before so the late night gaming session wouldn't completely demolish me for work the next day. I'd burn through more sick time, but when EVERYONE ELSE SKIPPED JUST THE DAY OF THE GAME RELEASE I wouldn't look like one of them. (I'd also feign disinterest in the game.)

Lesson to newbie conmen: Skip a day to go get your girlfriend at the airport. Skip a day to catch up on the annoying indoor chores you have when the weekend is going to be sunny. Don't skip a day for a major media event that everyone else will skip for.

 

[IndianaJonny]

Awesome. I always feel sorry for the guys in the game outlets who have to spend the whole time selling the titles before they get the chance to play them.

 

[Epslion.Bear]

Gave them the day off
... for Science!

they sent them home to practice and improve humans' co-operative performance

since we have to improve on that 6 secs advantage that robots have over us

Because of you I had to fire up steam and watch that

 

[teh_Canape]

Gave them the day off
... for Science!

they sent them home to practice and improve humans' co-operative performance

since we have to improve on that 6 secs advantage that robots have over us

Because of you I had to fire up steam and watch that

good, my work here is done, then

*backflips out through the window*

 

[Sebster 105]

I live in Manchester. When I'm older I'll give these guys a look.

Seriously

 

[Worr Monger]

Almost feeling like a jerk for not owning Portal 2...

... Eh, I'll get over it.

 

[Thorvan]

A representative from Valve said such sparse attendance was to be expected. "This comes as no surprise to us and we support Dyn's decision to do what every cutting edge workplace on the Internet, or anywhere, should be doing," said Doug Lombardi, VP of Marketing at Valve.

Most brilliant marketing quote ever. I laughed for a good ten minutes.

 

[Alar]

Gave them the day off

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj100/Kuchinawa212/Science.jpg

Indeed, my friend.

However, it is kind of sad that this is becoming something of a tradition for gamers. We'll look bad!

 

[johnnnny guitar]

Is it really worth a day off? Didn't take me that long to beat, it was only about as long as Episode 2. I suppose if you factor in the co-op...
(Anyone finish the Co-op? How long did it take?)

Now Skyrim is a game I will probably need a few days off for.
[small](Seriously I have like 120+ hours in one of my saves in Oblivion)[/small]

120+ I had 400+

 

[onyx452]

Now if only more places would adopt such a thing. It'd be kinda awesome. As it is, my professors not only cancel class for certain games releases and conventions, they even GO there. Besides, there's probably a lot of background work we're not seeing, like they're probably sacrificing something for this one day off to play a game.

 

[Craorach]

Bullshit.

I hope they are bloody sacrificing something for this garbage. If you want time off to play a game you know the release date off well in advance, you take some of your holiday time. Sick days are for actual sickness. If you find your employees taking sick time to play a game you do this cunning thing called disciplining them, not give them super special video game days off.