Niantic

This company's products make a very real difference in people's lives. We get letters from autistic people who've finally found a way to make friends, parents who've reconnected with their kids by playing together, couples who met each other through the game and are married now, and kids with cancer who have a reason to smile because of Pokémon Go. The level of impact these games have is so uplifting, and I'm filled with joy every time I see a stranger playing a Niantic game on the street.

Everyone who works at this company is smart, kind, passionate, and interesting. Lunch table discussions are always fun, and I have never felt out of place here, which is something I've felt at a lot of other places.

I love how a lot of employees play Niantic games. Many people here are high-level Ingress and Pokémon Go players and play regularly in their personal lives. It's an important way to get direct feedback about the gameplay experience, and I love that people in the office will sometimes go on impromptu raids or farms. It really helps me feel like I'm part of a team here.

Niantic is supportive of mental health, both among players and employees. We have ERGs like the Women group and the LGBTQ group, and the team is pretty diverse, by comparison to other companies. I've found it easy to talk about going to the therapist or taking a mental health day, which can be somewhat taboo in other places.

Game development is hard. It's a competitive space, and Niantic is trailblazing to carve out a brand new genre of game. It's difficult to design fun, and it can feel like management gets in the way.

There is a strong sense of pressure that comes from having hundreds of millions of eyes on your product. To say Pokémon Go is a popular game would be the understatement of the century, and that popularity comes with a lot of perceived responsibility, especially as all eyes will be on the Harry Potter game when that launches. Since teams are small, it can feel like you are personally responsible for the success or failure of big things. If you are prone to feel like you need to do everything yourself, or have a savior complex, it can be a big trap to watch out for.

Everyone is overworked and it feels like we are always behind schedule. The game dev industry is infamous for crunch, and Niantic is not immune. I have found the work-life balance to be OK, but just OK, and I imagine it's far worse in the months leading up to the launch of a new game.

Niantic's external communication is often very disappointing. There are times when things need to be communicated to players, like during live events or outages, but the execs put a gag order out, and no one is allowed to breathe a word. I know there is legal liability for some things, and I know we want to err on the side of not saying something we regret, but come on. We owe our players better than radio silence.

Keep meetings short and cut down on vague, hand-wavy management speak. Be more candid. Communicate better.

Help people feel less overworked. Tell them to take a vacation if they are stressed. Help them feel less stressed by reducing the perception of pressure.

Listen to what your employees tell you.