game companies in Florida
Author
What game companies exist in Florida
(excluding EA and NSpace)?
There's schools such as Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy,
Full Sail, and UCF. But they haven't seeded any game companies
(how Stanford/Berkeley seeded Silicon Valley).
You can research game companies at several online sites. I have a list of those online "game companies listings" sites in my links page at http://www.sloperama.com/advice/links.htm
Speaking strictly games, Florida isn’t that good of an area. EA and NSpace pretty much is the established game industry in Florida as far as I know.
I have seen small development houses spring up as well around here but those are the type that aren’t looking to hire because it’s more a bunch of old co-workers/students/friends getting together making small games. However with the knowledge to makes games there are other opportunities available to you here. There are simulation companies (military and otherwise) in the area that are well suited for knowledge in 3d programming and physics.
My advice, if you really have to stay in Florida, aren’t interested in EA or NSpace and want to make games, join the local IGDA, attend the meetings, make contacts, and keep your ear to the ground. If your gona get in on something small it will be though a personal relationship not a job posting.
I have seen small development houses spring up as well around here but those are the type that aren’t looking to hire because it’s more a bunch of old co-workers/students/friends getting together making small games. However with the knowledge to makes games there are other opportunities available to you here. There are simulation companies (military and otherwise) in the area that are well suited for knowledge in 3d programming and physics.
My advice, if you really have to stay in Florida, aren’t interested in EA or NSpace and want to make games, join the local IGDA, attend the meetings, make contacts, and keep your ear to the ground. If your gona get in on something small it will be though a personal relationship not a job posting.
I'd give Tiburon (EA Florida) a go though. I had to do a little time there while working for EA Canada and I really enjoyed it there. Good working environment and good people.
Mind you, you had to duck every now and then as a 'football' would come flying through the air from the Madden team.
Mind you, you had to duck every now and then as a 'football' would come flying through the air from the Madden team.
Author
>I'd give Tiburon (EA Florida) a go though. I had to do a little time there while working for >EA Canada and I really enjoyed it there. Good working environment and good people.
Absolutely not. Won't even consider EA.
I've read the "EA Spouse" open letter, EA sued for overtime pay, etc.
Absolutely not. Won't even consider EA.
I've read the "EA Spouse" open letter, EA sued for overtime pay, etc.
Quote:Original post by nathanbates99
>I'd give Tiburon (EA Florida) a go though. I had to do a little time there while working for >EA Canada and I really enjoyed it there. Good working environment and good people.
Absolutely not. Won't even consider EA.
I've read the "EA Spouse" open letter, EA sued for overtime pay, etc.
Fair enough and I am not EA's biggest fan since I lasted 6 months before I blasted out of there - but that was EA Canada.
However, it was a hell of an experience and a sort of 'badge of honour' so show that you worked at EA and survived :)
Quote:Original post by ByronQuote:Original post by nathanbates99
>I'd give Tiburon (EA Florida) a go though. I had to do a little time there while working for >EA Canada and I really enjoyed it there. Good working environment and good people.
Absolutely not. Won't even consider EA.
I've read the "EA Spouse" open letter, EA sued for overtime pay, etc.
Fair enough and I am not EA's biggest fan since I lasted 6 months before I blasted out of there - but that was EA Canada.
However, it was a hell of an experience and a sort of 'badge of honour' so show that you worked at EA and survived :)
I am no fan of Tiburon myself, though I worked there for 3 years before being semi burned out and taking a break from the industry to teach. If you are looking to break into the industry Tiburon is a good place to go to get a few triple A titles under your belt quickly. They make a minimum of 4 triple A titles a year there and then also help in the production of titles by other EA studios. So you can spend a short amount of time there and get a lot of experience (in that 3 years working there I got somewhere around 20 credited titles). Though you will have to sacrifice for it, having those titles on your resume will make it easier to move into other companies.
Basically if you are willing to use the place as a launching point, are willing to sacrifice a year or two of your life to them, and can stomach working nearly nothing but sports titles, it’s not too bad.
Quote:Original post by nathanbates99
I've read the "EA Spouse" open letter, EA sued for overtime pay, etc.
Sigh.
* Things can change.
* In response to that lawsuit a few years back, the company added several protections to make sure the worst studios change their practices.
* Each studio is different. Some are extremely lax, others are not.
As it happens, I work for EA as a programmer. I've never been ordered to work overtime, and never had anything like the horror stories. We're asked nicely to put in overtime during crunch -- a period of about one month. During that time, I never put in more than 60 hours, and every one of them was voluntary.
Having worked at other companies both in and out of the industry, I have nothing but good things to say about this particular studio. In 13 years of programming work, I have only had one place that was better with hours. Every other company was stricter and required more time; the owner -- well, former owner before it was purchased by EA last year -- encourages a good work-life balance and honestly doesn't want anybody to put in overtime. Our team tries to put in "eight great hours" every day, which tends to keep crunch time to a minimum.
On that note, it's time for me to get to work. [grin].
[Edited by - frob on April 16, 2007 10:40:34 AM]
Quote:Original post by Joystickgenie
I am no fan of Tiburon myself, though I worked there for 3 years before being semi burned out and taking a break from the industry to teach. If you are looking to break into the industry Tiburon is a good place to go to get a few triple A titles under your belt quickly. They make a minimum of 4 triple A titles a year there and then also help in the production of titles by other EA studios. So you can spend a short amount of time there and get a lot of experience (in that 3 years working there I got somewhere around 20 credited titles). Though you will have to sacrifice for it, having those titles on your resume will make it easier to move into other companies.
Basically if you are willing to use the place as a launching point, are willing to sacrifice a year or two of your life to them, and can stomach working nearly nothing but sports titles, it’s not too bad.
Excellent point. I have no doubts that having EA on my CV did me more good than harm and it was the first company I worked in where something I did actually made it onto the shelves - all the games I worked on in other companies got canned!
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