Bulkhead leader Joe Brammer says the Wardogs studio looks at job applicants’ public social media accounts, and may pass on candidates who keep posting that crunch should never exist.
Brammer made the comments in an interview with The Game Business, discussing how the UK studio hires and how it works.
“We check people’s socials, and if you’re constantly tweeting anti-crunch messaging: ‘This should never ever be a thing,’ we know that and go, ‘Look, you’re not going to be happy here, so we’re not going to go with you,'” he said.
He framed it as a culture fit issue, not punishment for criticizing Bulkhead. His argument is that Bulkhead can’t promise long hours will never happen, so people with a hard line on the topic would be miserable there.
“A lot of people who may have an issue with crunch, rightly so, I understand that issue, we always try and avoid it, but we don’t hide that this is going to happen at some point, they often don’t make it in the door,” Brammer said.
The money side
Brammer’s pitch is that the upside is financial. He pointed to staff who hold shares in Bulkhead and receive bonuses, describing the payouts for those who qualify as a meaningful amount.
He said he was excited about junior developers with two or three years at the studio getting enough money for a house, or at least a deposit on one.
Brammer also addressed Bulkhead’s rocky employment history. The studio has made redundancies repeatedly in recent years, at one point cutting around 20% of its staff. He said Wardogs‘ performance means Bulkhead won’t need to lay anyone off this time: the first year in roughly half a decade without cuts.
