Employee Review about Rebellion on Glassdoor.com

[Phallus Maximus 69]

Link to the review https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Rebellion-RVW64021682.htm

1.0★★★★★ (1/10 stars)

Current Employee, more than 1 year

A company at the edge of a precipice of its heads making
May 12, 2022 - Anonymous Employee in Oxford, England

Pros

Some individuals that are good at what they do and still somehow passionate A friendly atmosphere between most in the immediate surroundings

Cons

The recent loss of many members of management has resulted in some very bad decisions that have been made by those left behind. The company really is seemingly on the edge of a precipice and doesn't even seem to notice it. As far as I can see, the only possible solution to the issues that the company has, is if somehow, any new hires for positions -that there is nearly no one at the company talented enough to determine whether they are skilled enough for, due to the level of the position- are somehow able to pull it off. However that's only if they're allowed to pull it off; decisions are made behind closed doors, (which is expected at a large company) unfortunately these conversations do not happen with the expected input level from all members of staff at supposedly the same level. Things are then denied and often for the reasoning of politics between the few people in those meetings, that is if meetings occur at all. Sometimes unilateral decisions are made by individuals with the power to do so, that rocks a whole project. 6 months worth of work may be scrapped or changed entirely, multiple times, on the whims of higher ups (I'm talking about changing their mind without any communication with, or input into, the project for that entire period) or because the "engine" is incapable of change, at least at the biological level. Several times this has led to people who are good at what they do, leaving the company for somewhere that at least seems to value input. This is a systemic issue at Rebellion and one that is incredibly unlikely to change as it is rooted deep in the foundations of the company.

Any new blood that is brought into the company will quickly discover that one of the biggest mistakes they have made, is assuming that the proprietary engine will be to a standard that you expect in the current era of video game creation. The engine is in need of an entire overhaul that there is an inability to realise due to lack of resources and a straight up denial of its state. There is a wide and far reaching want for change in engine; this is denied by individuals and met with an unwillingness to look at competitors engines for improvements in any reasonable timeframe or even consider allowing projects to deviate away from an engine that is frankly absurdly dated while the engine catches up. A huge contributing factor to the companies blindness regarding required changes, is that its largest franchise's fanbase consistently wants the same thing, meaning that the product has a target audience that doesn't change and with it neither does the engine or the companies attitude resulting in stagnation. It is easy to see when some artists are below the standard of others however there is no training available for those artists, in fact there is no training for anyone outside of HR as far as I am aware. There are members of staff that if interviewed today would not be hired however they have been grandfathered in, this also is expected in a large company, however the mixture of this and the lack of training, results in a environment where they are unable to improve and as such causes issues. Good members of staff have consistently hit brick walls and eventually walked away due to being unable to advance the company into the current era of video games.

Advice to Management

Management needs to first exist in the eyes of the people under them. In many ways the highest level of Rebellion have lost touch with the games division of the company, the result of which is consistent changes to ongoing projects that make little to no sense from either a business or development point of view. With the recent opening up of many of the lead positions at the company, which is a warning in and of itself, there has become a lack of direction, leadership and an even greater lack of communication. The current best way to gain information about the company, be it about new projects, current projects, new hires, or people leaving, is to gather around the water cooler. Official channels do not exist till after decisions have been made or information is already public knowledge. This isn't to say that everyone should have a say, rather that as mentioned before, sometimes small groups of people do not make (or maybe even have) the most reliable information. Communication is something that is severely lacking, both for the people under you but also for you. In all reality I think there's a likelihood that these might be comments you have never heard before or have dismissed as disgruntled individuals, and while they might be uncomfortable, or feel like an attack, they're not meant to be. Please, talk to more of the people who work for you and actually get an understanding of what's going on, before it hurts more than it's already going to.

[jankerson]

Not really all that surprising to hear.

Can really tell with how bad they screwed up SE5 when compared to SE4.

The obvious lean towards PvP/Multiplayer/Invasion crap vs Survival and good solid Campaign maps/Overwatch etc of SE4.

Basically SE5 is completely and totally screwed up, I stopped playing it until maybe another content update. Back to playing SE4.

SE5 went way away from a sniper game to BS.

[leemicah61]

Comparing this SE4 you can definitely tell that this game felt like a step back. Not that hard to tell frankly.

[zSe3nByGh0S7z]

Thank you for the info, very useful. This shows why SE 5 was trash on launch and when I saw the new members doing some jokes during streams and etc. I understand that no serious effort has been put to make the game great as it's predecessors were. Unfortunately, As I see from this thread, the lack of "Collective Genius" is the main reason for SE 5's poor execution, release, development and state.

[stdape2022]

Would explain the poorness of the Game. The PvP crap was a big mistake, I know some like it, but us Loyal Fans do not. Problem is been round the Campaign so much, it has got boring. an easy days playing on Authentic. The other was Survival OK, fun for a small while, with a few friends and a drink.
Now I am waiting to see what happens on next update, gathering again its the 26th. Annoying part is not knowing what is upcoming (try communicating with us)
Also Campaign would be great larger, more enemies, and up to 4 players, but sounds like your Engine needs a Hamster and a Wheel to keep it running.
I am only playing it at present, as nothing else worthwhile playing, otherwise would of gone by now.
If the next update is pointless then will be, looking elsewhere. I say that sadly as Game has the Potential. Also never played the latest DLC, I am not paying that much for 1 Mission.
I can understand your struggling, but if the Loyal Fans, do not get any feedback, we are assuming you do not care.

[BastardSword]

I've been playing Rebellion games since the original Sniper Elite 1 on ps2. It was a fun game but basically held together with duct tape. It had a small but really loyal and intense fanbase back then. At the time nobody had heard of Rebellion, barely anyone played SE1 or bought it, and I think everyone just assumed it was one of those small developers that would disappear.

Frankly I'm just amazed that Rebellion is still around and has made a name for themselves and keep making games. Their games are still kind of held together by duct tape but they are fun. Back in 2006 if you had told the 20 or 30 of us who were the only people on the planet playing SE1 online on ps2 that 16 years later Rebellion would still be around and were releasing Sniper Elite 5, we would have been shocked.

[davemon]

It's hard to take a review like that seriously. That person butchered the Queen's English and writes like a child. Reading through all the garbage, it leaves the impression this is a young and/or childish person who hasn't figured out how to work as part of a team and simply has a beef with authority. Maybe the type that wants to be the boss immediately upon hire.

As most of these things tend to go, there is probably partial truth and basis for complaint in many areas the reviewer mentions, but the issues are then clouded with exaggerations and poor personal history. They can deflect it as not disgruntled, but that's what it usually means.

Also, there's not a single mention of this project (SE5) in that review, so why is it considered relevant to this game just because it's the same company? The reviewer says it's systemic, but that's an opinion. The specific team that developed this game is never mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if the moderators delete this thread entirely, it's not productive.

[🆂🆃🅸🅶🅶🅰]

Messaggio originale di davemon:

It's hard to take a review like that seriously. That person butchered the Queen's English and writes like a child. Reading through all the garbage, it leaves the impression this is a young and/or childish person who hasn't figured out how to work as part of a team and simply has a beef with authority. Maybe the type that wants to be the boss immediately upon hire.

As most of these things tend to go, there is probably partial truth and basis for complaint in many areas the reviewer mentions, but the issues are then clouded with exaggerations and poor personal history. They can deflect it as not disgruntled, but that's what it usually means.

Also, there's not a single mention of this project (SE5) in that review, so why is it considered relevant to this game just because it's the same company? The reviewer says it's systemic, but that's an opinion. The specific team that developed this game is never mentioned. I wouldn't be surprised if the moderators delete this thread entirely, it's not productive.

Well this is interesting as regards this game davemon,
"Any new blood that is brought into the company will quickly discover that one of the biggest mistakes they have made, is assuming that the proprietary engine will be to a standard that you expect in the current era of video game creation. The engine is in need of an entire overhaul that there is an inability to realise due to lack of resources and a straight up denial of its state. There is a wide and far reaching want for change in engine; this is denied by individuals and met with an unwillingness to look at competitors engines for improvements in any reasonable timeframe or even consider allowing projects to deviate away from an engine that is frankly absurdly dated while the engine catches up. " unquote i think they refer to this as an ¬ In house ¬ game engine and i also think most or all their games are made with this , to me that explains a lot of things.

[Bender]

yeah not buying this "review" at all.

[🆂🆃🅸🅶🅶🅰]

Messaggio originale di Bender:

yeah not buying this "review" at all.

I buy most of it , you only have to compare the quality of lets say the Tanks in Sniper Elite3 to the ones in SE5 , it`s pathetic they look like out of control idiotic blobs .
Lets not forget same game engine so they should be better
I`am not selling the game in this hyper link but lets compare and the next one
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1938090/Call_of_Duty_Modern_Warfare_II/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/393380/Squad/

[Bender]

Seems like Rebellions bigger issue is the troll community infesting their games.

[davemon]

Messaggio originale di Angel666:

Your post is very offensive and can be reported as hate crime hate speech in the UK.

As Dyslexic person I find your post extremely offensive.

You should read educate yourself to fact disabled Dyslexic people use Internet as well.
...

Nice try. Go somewhere else and post something useful. You have provided the offense here, as well as the reviewer copied without permission. Oh, and I don't live in the UK, I say what is legal and permitted. So again, leave.

You have been reported for lying about me, a personal attack, accusing the reviewer above of dyslexia, and political speech which is a violation of Valve rules. This is a gaming forum, leave your politics at home and discuss the game.

[landmass]

Messaggio originale di jankerson:

SE5 went way away from a sniper game to BS.

I love posts like these… guy, you were so disappointed with the product that you spent 400 hours playing it in less than 4 months. You just burned yourself out, it’s fine to take a break; however, if the product is BS, I suggest you find a new game to play instead of wasting hundreds of more hours here

I don’t know why people are soooo strung out on games and expectations. This is clearly just another Sniper Elite game, just like all the previous installments. No idea what everyone was expecting.

The invasion mechanic was fun, the gameplay is the same as ever and it’s wrapped up in a solid AA packaging. They tried, it sorta worked, you got your money’s worth; move on.

[jankerson]

Messaggio originale di massive:

Messaggio originale di jankerson:

SE5 went way away from a sniper game to BS.

I love posts like these… guy, you were so disappointed with the product that you spent 400 hours playing it in less than 4 months. You just burned yourself out, it’s fine to take a break; however, if the product is BS, I suggest you find a new game to play instead of wasting hundreds of more hours here

I don’t know why people are soooo strung out on games and expectations. This is clearly just another Sniper Elite game, just like all the previous installments. No idea what everyone was expecting.

The invasion mechanic was fun, the gameplay is the same as ever and it’s wrapped up in a solid AA packaging. They tried, it sorta worked, you got your money’s worth; move on.

Hardly.. LOL

I got everything done in the game, beat all 12 Survival Operations etc.

The real issue is there is really no replay incentive to KEEP PLAYING SE5.

While I still play SE4 daily.

[davemon]

Messaggio originale di jankerson:

While I still play SE4 daily.

LOL I can vouch for that. I see you on every day running a Facility game on A or A+. Mornings too, you must not sleep!

[jankerson]

Messaggio originale di davemon:

Messaggio originale di jankerson:

While I still play SE4 daily.

LOL I can vouch for that. I see you on every day running a Facility game on A or A+. Mornings too, you must not sleep!

I sleep some. LOL