Company
Location
Red Tribe was founded by veteran game developer and entrepreneur Chris Mosely. Red Tribe will be at E3 and is able to meet with suitable applicants. Please see our website for the relevant job postings.
Red Tribe is Australia's fastest growing game development studio. The studio is a developer of AAA quality games focusing on the highest production values and entertainment experiences.
The company works with some of the world's largest publishers across all skus.
Oh wonderful, what a marvellous idea, an Aussie developer interviewing overseas. I'll just jump in the wheel well of a passing plane then.
Red Tribe receives a number of overseas applicants as well as local applicants.
Well I'm glad for you, but when the local developers seem to follow a policy of burning out and throwing away the Aussie talent, then start hiring OS, it's hardly an encouragement to support our industry is it? Maybe if local developers would ecnourage and nurture the talent rather than using them as a disposable asset you wouldn't need to look OS.
Its a business, not your mother.
We have a great internship program that is developing local talent. We invest a lot of money in training; it's competitive of course, but then so is the industry. Our Internship Program is only open to Australian Permanent Residents www.redtribe.comjobs.htm. We have also developed curriculum for our industry and Red Tribe is working closely with two Melbourne based Universities and the Office of Training and Tertiary Education. We are open to any constructive ideas on how to improve our programs.
good luck trying to bring in talented overseas development staff. but why would they want to come here, where the industry is far more unprofessional and opportunities far more limited?
Red Tribe receives roughly equal numbers of overseas and local applicants. Indeed in general Australian candidates are every bit as talented as their overseas counterparts. Most overseas applicants are from the UK. Established local studios take only the best talent from overseas due to the costs involved in relocating an individual. The majority of overseas applicants are at a disadvantage when compared to their local counterparts due to relocation and other costs. There are numerous and varied reasons as to why they would want to work and live in Australia and each individual case is different. Only a very select few overseas applicants are considered for sponsorship into Australia's best Studios.It makes much more sense to recruit locally and look after your staff. The industry is rapidly maturing in Australia and there are now a number of quite large development studios with strong track records. You have to have exceptional quality staff and you have to nurture and look after them (you have to listen to them). A case in point, during the early establishment of Red Tribe, staff voted to establish a 6:30pm working curfew. The results have been great and we are now committed to reviewing all our policies and practices with all staff in an open and friendly forum.Also of interest, the government places limits on the number of overseas staff a company can hire over a four-year period.HR Manager Red Tribe
See, here's the thing. You want to hire locally, you want to nurture and encourage local talent. But your website specifically states applicants must have a number of years of industry experience and/or published titles. This is true not only of your company, but several studios that are relavtively small and new. This suggests that newer studios are not only not interested in hiring inexperienced developers, they're actively trying to poach talent from other studios.I do have some consrtuctive suggestions for you. First of all, "internship", is a PR-friendly term for cheap labour. I have a family to support, I can't afford to do that on a sub-award wage. While developing experience in your interns is a great thing, ultimately they'd be better off getting into modwork and getting a real job. If these kids have any talent, hire them on as asset monkeys, give them the crappy work, leave the experienced artists do what they do best rather than modelling crates and what-have-you.More importantly, don't hire overseas. Stick it out here. If the local talent doesn't meet your standards, your standards are too high. There's too many relatively new studios coming into the industry with snotty attitudes and no reputation to back it up.And in reply to pb's comment, maybe you should pay a little more attention to the state of the industry. Then you might know what I'm talking about. I've seen too many friends leave this industry broken-hearted and burned out to stand around and watch it continue.So ends my epic :p. /me bows
The Internship program results in the Advanced Diploma Games Art/Games Programming and is run through TAFE division. Most schools (RTOs) that teach game development charge students a substantial fee.The program supports and encourages talented individuals by helping them to gain skills on-the-job while receiving a salary and working towards a fully accredited Advanced Diploma (which can also take 12 months off a Bachelors degree at most Universities). Needless to say it's a very popular option but only a few places are made available each year due to the investment in time and resources that the company must make. Interns also undergo studies offsite to complete their Diplomas.Exceptional artists and engineers (irrespective of the number of games created or the number of years of industry experience) are always in high demand. Additionally, numerous smaller studios provide entry-level positions. The size of a studio does not necessarily translate into a decent job, work experience or successful delivery of a quality product.If a studio looks after its staff and the team enjoys what it's doing, the team achieves amazing results.HR Manager RedTribe
I'm glad this is turning into a productive discussion, and I would dearly love for anyone to learn from it. I also appreciate that you're responding and not taking my sarcasm to heart :).But I still see this is a short term policy with the potential for long term damage. I'm sorry Chris, but I simply cannot agree with your appraisal of the industry as it stands. It is not changing for the better, and while turning away potential for guaranteed profit keeps your studio in the black it does nothing for the future. Experienced, well rounded staff guided by intelligent management will turn out a good game, yes. What about the next project? And the next? Experienced staff don't just coalesce out of the ether. The vast majority of experienced developers I know are either jaded and cynical (yours truly) or as shallow and arrogant as the titles they produce, with little to no loyalty or interest in the project. This is an across the board truth. I've never met a developer - and I've met a few - who didn't fall into one of these categories to a significant degree.Except management. And in my experience they're either too involved with the immediate project to consider a long term future, or so rabidly opposed to criticism that I continue to go by Anonymous - I would not be the first person to damage their career by criticising my former employer.So here I am. My PC is falling apart, so is my car. I can get my car fixed and continue to have an income, but fixing my computer means my partner and I don't eat. In time I'm either going to get lucky and find a job for someone with my level of experience, or I'm going to give up and join the public service. Granted, that's not your problem. But it would be so easy to budget your time and money for one or two entry level positions per project. I know it's possible, I've been there. I known this industry, I've established that I have the skill and talent to get and keep a job. I don't have the "2 title, 3 years" minimum that seems to be standard these days but I have been involved for over ten years. I've seen it done by intelligent management. Toeing the party line does nothing for your future, when chances are a small risk and investment will pay off not only in staff with experience, but who are loyal and grateful to your studio. Most of the points you raised have missed mine entirely - which is you must make an investment in the future in order to HAVE a future. While your internship may be a good start, if it doesn't give them the experience they need to get a job what's the damn point? Why not spend the time and money on getting these interns up to speed as real employees, with real jobs and real futures?
That's exactly what they are doing. They only take on Interns that they want to employ in full-time positions. For the long term. It's a great idea.
Our whole focus here is about investing in the future. Investing in our staff is the single most important part of that strategy.Send me a private note and we can catch up over a coffee to discuss your ideas further perhaps. I'm sure we can learn a lot from each other's unique experiences.Chris Mosely.