MZ Through the years - werkgeversreview Anonieme werknemer bij MZ

So you've probably read a few of these reviews and see a bunch of conflicting information. To clarify the information, I've tried to breakdown what the company has been like over the years so you can try to sort the reviews into these more overarching culture buckets. The "Gabe" Era (Pre-2018): The craziest time for the company. I joined and we were working on Game of War and Mobile Strike was just releasing. The company was making money hand over fist. The culture was bananas. I would work until the last possible train out of Palo Alto and still was one of the first to leave each day on my team. Everything we were working on was going out later that day or the next day. At the worst of it, deployments happened TWICE A DAY with new content for players. Completely absurd but I look back on this time somewhat fondly as working in the trenches did build a bunch of strong bonds that eventually fanned out across the industry that I could tap to find new employment at the drop of a hat. The parties during this time were completely absurd and made the Alcatraz party in Silicon Valley seem quaint. Post-"Gabe" Era (~2018-2020): The Lawyers took over the company ousting the founder because he just couldn't stop talking about blockchain and it freaked out the executives. Belt tightening ensued. This was some completely abysmal years for the company. The direction was poorly thought out and it absolutely showed. People were fired for absurd reasons and it all felt really slimy. Years were spent on games before Game Design was even on the product. Once design was on the product, the game type changed entirely, art directors were fired and replaced, and so much money was spent. Once the product went live, management grew impatient, canned development that was required for the product to work, forced sales that killed the economy and quickly ruined the product. Little did we know the company was buried in bad debt and working on a buyout at the time with Applovin buying MZ. This was the only redeeming factor of this era as all the employees were bailed out of underwater options with lucrative in the money options. It's hard for me to hate the leadership at this time from this windfall alone. Applovin decapitated the leadership which was a godsend. Applovin Era (2020 to now): This has been great. The company has slowed down to the point where methodical steps are taken and there isn't a constant panic being transmitted from above causing short sighted decision making. Work life balance has been tremendously improved with the Applovin acquisition, not to mention reaping the benefits of an IPO, which while tech stocks are down now, the options are still providing lucrative value to employees. The company continues to struggle with lack of innovation although there is some hope on that front. There were layoffs earlier this year (July 2022) which seemed consistent with the industry but they really seemed to have targeted the worst of the toxic super pay to win people at the company which is an interesting sign. ---- General Pros Today: - Good Work/Life balance - Fully Remote - Solid office and cafeteria for people who do want to go into the office - Applovin is a public company (Ticker:APP) so options/RSUs have value, joining now would probably be a good strike price assuming you stick around through the ongoing tech recession. - Smart pleasant coworkers - Very low micromanaging (at least as far as I know for my teams and those around us)