BioShock Developer Hiring Based on Metacritic Scores

[Whytewulf]

Ya'll do realize, it coul dbe a method for screening in/out applicants. It doesn't say, hey you got a good score you are hired. But they may get 1000 applications, now maybe they will get 500. When I hire people, I also ask for people that have a degree, and in some cases been published in this or that journal. I then go read the article after they apply. It narrows down the applicants, but I don't just hire them because they were published. It may avoud the pople say, ya I wrote this awesome best game, and it's Pong 2.0.

 

[Furism]

The other reason they could have put up that requirement is simply to filter out the number of potential applicants. After their first hit with Bioshock, they're probably getting applications out the wazoo; many of them wanting to work on a company which is likely to churn out the next big hit. As such, they're looking for a fast-and-simple way get rid of 90% of those resumes; the meta-critic requirement is both a deterrent to the inexperienced and a way to get rid of those who are clearly unqualified.

They might as well require 50 LinkedIn recommendations (for coworkers appreciation), 500+ followers on Twitter (to prove that people have an interest in you), and a XeeMe score of 1,000 (to prove you radiate captivating content on social networks). Maybe also 10,000 achievements points on the Xbox Live (to prove you also play games). It's not very hard to come up with an explanation why a specific metric somebody randomly came up with is relevant.

I hate to quote Shakespeare but I guess what I'm trying to say is that all that glisters is not gold.

 

[ResonanceGames]

Read between the lines, people.

The point is that they want someone who has shipped extremely large, critically-acclaimed games.

I bet my left nut that if a high-up from New Vegas applied, they wouldn't look at their resume and go "ah, looks good but you're technically one point off on the Metacritic score. Sorry!"

Companies list specific, measurable criteria like this to pare down the number of applicants they get, and to make sure there's little confusion about what they're looking for. There's still a working professional who's going to look at these resumes and make an informed decision about who to interview, even if some of them don't technically hit every single tick on the list.

That said, the chances that the high-caliber person they're looking for hasn't shipped an 85+ Metacritic game is pretty damn low. The list of people with that level of experience and talent who've never made a well-reviewed game is going to be pretty short.

 

[Furism]

It may avoud the pople say, ya I wrote this awesome best game, and it's Pong 2.0.

Do you ever think that you might also have missed the guy who created the new Minecraft, Sim City or Civilization ?

 

[Whytewulf]

It may avoud the pople say, ya I wrote this awesome best game, and it's Pong 2.0.

Do you ever think that you might also have missed the guy who created the new Minecraft, Sim City or Civilization ?

Absolutley... I know I missed out on Awesome canidates, because of our requirements. I've had people submit resumes, who weren't published still. I have had people put awesome cover letters together, who say, I know you are looking for xyz, but let me position myself this way. I would say if you created a top 10 ame, but it had a metacritic score of less than 8, it doesn't preclude you from applying. When we hire, there are some things I can't overlook, and my company doesn't let me hire people who don't meet certain criteria, i.e. I can't hire an accountant who doesn't have their CPA, or security guard who has a criminal background, but the rest is slightly flexible. I want 10 years experience, but I can hire with 6, I want an MBA, but they have a BA and certs, etc. It's a weeding out process. But then again, this could still be a sucky criteria, I don't know enough about game publishing..

 

[The.Bard]

And what's with all the hate for Bioshock 2. It was a solid game, it just wasn't as good as the first. Few sequels are.

It's funny, my original thought before playing Bioshock 2 was "This is STUPID. There's no way to justify this sort of PoS sequel BS yada yada."

I picked it up for $9 from Amazon, and I gotta say, I thought the gameplay in 2 was FAR superior to that of the first. Storywise, sure, it's a bit of a dip, but a lot of the elements in it I thought were more successful.

And forget about Deus Ex Revolution, Bioshock 1 is the original when it comes to dumbass idiotic boss fights. knowwhatImean?? *wink wink nudge nudge* Eh? Eh???

 

[Cobalt Lion]

Geez, I've heard of playing to a tough audience, but that is just ridiculous. I guess I won't bother applying to them....

Mostly 'cause I have nothing to do with game development at all, but still.

 

[Saviordd1]

And thus the second video game crash began.

And thus, people did not understand what the video game crash was.

And thus the great "And thus" train began.

OT: YAY! Metacritic fucking up the games industry even more...-.-

 

[VoidWanderer]

When did Irrational decided that EA was a good company to take ideas from?