Pros
Cryptic is an interesting company in the games industry. Its a great place to be if you are you a fan of mmorpg's, Star-Trek, & Dungeons & Dragons. Cryptic is very family friendly, and if you're already a parent, or would like to plant some roots, and not further job hop. It's a high studio on my list to recommend it to those types whom are interested. Just as long as the first part is relevant to your interests. The people here are friendly, and enjoy having passionate conversations with you If you're very familiar with it's current line of products, and mmorpg's in general. The time one can get off of work is pretty great, and many take advantage of it. This goes with PTO and sick leave. Other side perks are that you get donuts every (Mon & Friday) and (Tues & Thurs) are fresh organic fruit deliveries. They've hired a new Art Director, that I'm very optimistic will do great things. At least try to argue for the things Cryptic has not been offering. Giving it's artists a larger voice on the projects and pressure the CEO to understand how much Cryptic needs to excel in it's proprietary tech, & future products for a mark in peoples attention as to what "cryptic studios" is. Also as a place that talented artists and others can be attracted to working for. Layoffs are historically known in the company to be pretty uncommon, but still happen from time to time. Oh & trained, well-behaved (dogs) are welcomed to the workplace.
Cons
I want to be fair to Cryptic, because its a company with "good" intentions. Although, let me be honest to the "creative" applicant with curiosity here... Cryptic Studios isn't the game company I'd recommend to a ambitious creative, or an artistic person. Right Now, they're not there at the competitive scene with the rest of the industry, and are in no way going to be in-line with it quickly. They do try, but mind you it falls short every time because they appoint 100% trust in their managers who are the "idea makers". Which leads to down turns for ones ability to take a lot of initiative, creativity, and ownership on the products they develop. Thus making it difficult to grow and excel in their career. Or to show your level of expertise in what you will be exchanging in value. If you're a artist who wants to succeed in the games industry as a whole. Understand, if you work at this company. You will leave with very little to show for your portfolio that will compete with other artists out there to a future hiring manager. 10-15% out of 100, you & your team of junior, mid level (staff), seniors, & leads will ever create anything from scratch. The rest of the 85-90% will be re-using & modifying existing content that was built before you by the few that remain, and the many that have moved on. Otherwise, you will be integrating assets from their outsourcing vendor in China. Leaving you wondering on a day-to-day basis asking "When will I get to make any of this cool stuff!?" This one's pretty HUGE, so don't be surprised if you hear confessions of the artists whom you may interview here with. The Cryptic Engine. It's by far the worst thing a creative person has to work with, especially when knowning their genre and product line, in turn to the rate they often have to ship new content...With that said, Cryptic doesn't crunch past the 9-5 (unless individuals want to), but keep in mind they set the schedules up so that they crunch you in 8 hours with little room to learn new software, and to explore ways to work smarter! Cryptic has had a great turnover rate from its art department in the past 5-7 years. Primarily on the Neverwinter project. If you end up on Star-Trek, you'll be happier and have a fun time with your co-workers. Neverwinter unfortunately being the most creative of them, has been nothing but a mess of stress. There is a heavy amount of "pecking" order in hierarchy at this company. It will likely drain you, and depress you above all. So if consider yourself creative. Don't apply, you'll waste their time, and most of all, yours. The most in terms of negative energy you will find off putting is that some people praise their ego's by belittling others in reminding people how many years they've worked in the industry. (Like a dog barking about how long its leash is...) Another bottleneck about the company is that it stresses it's rules & policy first to it's employees above all things. IMO this comes about because of the companies "mom & pop" culture it tries to carry, hence to the stated (pro choice) about being a child/family friendly studio, and one where parents dominate the workplace. If you don't have children of your own, you will be left out of a lot of opportunities to find things to relate to your co-workers (unless you like beer, but that gets old quick), because most of the people at the studio like to talk about their children most of the time, and what it means for them to discover being a parent. I realize this is quite a list of cons to state about Cryptic. But your happiness matters first before a "job". The artists at the studio by a very large % really don't like it at Cryptic, and would want many things to be different, including what and how they go about doing their work. Prepare yourself to understand, everything you've learned outside, or having worked in AAA's of the industry. Or the Indie side. Be prepared to leave those lessons learned at the door before going to work here.