Great IPs and colleagues, abysimal leadership - Senior Software Engineer 2K Employee Review

3.0
9 Aug 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great and unique IPs in the game industry. Smart colleagues and people that wants to make a difference. Culture that tries to adapt to the Bay Area (food trucks, parties, raffles, flexible work hours, remote work, etc.)

Cons

Many middle and top managers are totally clueless at what they do. They would rather scream, insult and tell you what to do than explain why. Depending on which team you are on, your sense of ownership and pride will be ripped to shred. Your efficiency will go down to almost nothing. Any attempts at doing more than what was requested will be met with fierce resistance, and thinking outside the box is usually frowned upon. Your manager will become your team bottleneck and there is very little you can do about it. Feedback are not welcome and managers become very defensive if you give them. It took me a while to understand that they are actually afraid of being incompetent. The Dilbert principle runs strong in some departments, and sometimes, not strong enough. To be honest, some other teams seem to be better managed on the leadership side, but I can only review my own experience. As an engineer, it felt like such a waste to have this incredible team running at such low efficiency due to the inability of the team leadership to properly communicate the vision, pillars and goals of the team. Instead, everyone was micro-managed from the top which led to frustration to all. The end result is unmotivated and disengaged team. While I wanted to love the company, and I really appreciated my colleagues, management made day to day work impossible to love. During interviews, go with your instincts.

Explore other reviews about 2K

5.0
19 Nov 2025
Anonymous contractor
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

My team and colleagues were great, everyone in office is friendly

Cons

Some teams and departments are siloed

1.0
8 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Congratulations on joining an IT department sustained primarily by optimism and certificates whose expiration dates invite reflection. Tickets enter a triage process best described as ceremonial — acknowledged warmly, processed philosophically, resolved at the discretion of the universe. Infrastructure decisions suggest a confident autodidactic energy that formal training might have tempered. Your recommendations will be received, appreciated verbally, and composted with dignity. The company charges a premium for its products and charges again for the remainder of them, which is either visionary pricing strategy or a personality trait depending on your tolerance. The gaming chairs are ambitious. The retention numbers are instructive

Cons

• Your labor props up a machine that monetizes joy incrementally until joy is gone • Every unresolved ticket is a monument to institutional indifference • Heidegger called it thrownness — you were thrown here specifically • The infrastructure will outlive your dignity but not your burnout • Mark Fisher already described this place in Capitalist Realism and did not recommend it • You will achieve nothing that compounds • The servers go down. You stay down longer.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All