Pros
The biggest pro is that the Manchester office is amazing: free drinks, multiple games areas, interior design that matches the aesthetics of the games, standing desks, and flexible-ish working (though it's still 4 days in the office per week). I also genuinely loved the games we were making and engaging with the community.
Cons
The job was not as described. During interviews I was essentially asked what my ideal role would be, and I was hired to lead multiple teams of programmers and help guide the architecture for future tools work. When I joined, that turned into leading a single team - smaller than any I've led before - with a much higher focus on hands-on firefighting of immediate issues. The other teams were dangled as "something for when you've settled in" and eventually removed as an option altogether. Effectively, this was a step down from the senior management roles I held previously. The biggest issue with CIG is the management and planning. Everything is chaotic. Communication between teams is virtually non-existent. Release deadlines are always 2 pm on a Friday. New features and requirements appear out of nowhere with two-week deadlines. Employees are regularly treated like children. I grew tired of senior managers telling their teams that they were getting "angry" or "cross." Oddly, everyone seems to be afraid of the CEO. I don't actually know why, because he seemed nice enough when I spoke with him, so maybe something I haven't seen. But if he happens to muse out loud "maybe it would be nice to have X," the roadmap immediately changes so that X is in the next release. Management techniques feel like they were learned from the games industry of 30 years ago. I was amazed to join one retrospective/post-mortem meeting and hear the instructions included: "Don't complain about the past." After 5 months, I started looking for another job. After 6 months, my mental health was in such a state that I'd calculated the duration and impact velocity of throwing myself off the 7th-floor balcony. There was something worryingly reassuring in knowing it could all be over in roughly 2.8 seconds. The day after returning from the Christmas and New Year break, they told me they didn't want to continue beyond my 9-month probation period, and I have honestly never been more relieved in my life. That was actually the first day I found time to play on all those pool tables and simulators, rather than stressing over the next deadline, the wellbeing of my team, and keeping up with the literal hundreds of Microsoft Teams chats I was in. I've been in game development for decades, but I think CIG might finally be the company that's convinced me it's not worth it anymore.