Zynga: the whole "they treat their employees badly" thing is a lie
charlesyay.wordpress.com
All that stuff about Zynga treating its employees terribly? I don't believe it. Maybe they just really really love what they do, maybe even more than you.
charlesyay.wordpress.com
I don't work at Zynga, I've heard stories like others, but you know what, I wouldn't assume anything about them until (if I did) I interviewed with them and inquired about a position I was interested in. In general, gaming studios work more than comparably sized non-gaming businesses.
This particular article/blog has no more merit than the stories of ZOMG ZYNGA IS EVIL AND WORKS THEIR EMPLOYEES TO THE BONE.
My experience in the tech industry is, an employee will have expectations, a company will have expectations. As the employee, it is your job to look out for yourself and make sure that what you are getting into matches what you want. You can easily get sucked into the day to day and forget or not realize what you are giving up, you need to be aware enough to take stock from time to time and ask "is this working for me?"
Just a minor (well major) nit... Quoting someone who says "my job is my social life" -- if most of those hours are in the office working, you need to get out and live a little. Especially if you are an employee and not a founder.
Unfortunately lots of people do, so I thought it appropriate to address the other side for very assuming people who absorb one-sided information.
If someone wants to write an article about "the other side" then write something about the users for whom Zynga's products are actually providing value as opposed to serving as artless black-holes of attention and creativity.
I think games have incredible (and untapped!) value, but I don't think Zynga makes games. I think Zynga exploits game mechanics to make products out of people.
Obvious example: http://www.bogost.com/blog/cow_clicker_1.shtml
Positive or not, this industry can lead one to feeling like they have to give every waking hour to the company. At the end of the day, though, one really should ask "what am I getting in return?"
Balance is key.
I find (personally) that I become more creatively and emotionally effective when I've had rest, exercise, proper food and non-work social endeavors. I don't remember the last time I stayed up past 2am for work, or a side project. But I still love what I do, and want to do it well.
Oh, wait, yes they fucking would.
Maybe this post is badly timed with all the other negative stories going around, but I thought I'd just address one thing which I believe for sure isn't fairly judged about Zynga.
Manipulative scum-company is really actually a nice place to work
or
Manipulative scum-company has gotten really good at putting on makeup to hide it's festering sores.
If you really are interning there, I urge you to leave as soon as possible, and pursue something worthwhile. Persuading entranced people to click on ads - for useless virtual bads or otherwise - is a waste of life and talent.
You only get one allotment of life; choose wisely how you spend it.
For the people that complained about the culture just for the 'big payday', then you missed the point all together.
A company with a focus on long term employees that will stay and focus on the underlying structure that permits the business to exist will be more interested in hiring and retaining employees with interests that encapsulate more than simply staying late into the evening to "crush some code."