MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
This content was created in association with Creative Assembly as part of DEVELOP/JOBS 2021.
Creative Assembly is a craft-led studio with a people-first approach, and is recognised as one of the best places to work in the UK industry for the last four years.
As the UK’s largest games developer, and among the oldest, Creative Assembly (CA) has developed a unique approach to creating AAA games over their 34 years.
CA is a craft-led studio with projects fully shaped by the team, from art tools and AI to sound design and cinematic trailers. Everyone is given creative freedom to make a significant contribution to the projects they work on. The studio environments are built to support this approach with onsite bespoke audio, motion capture, playtest suites and a user experience laboratory.
Multiple projects are always in development with two core teams: the New IP team and the Total War team. The New IP team are working on an as-yet-unannounced sci-fi fps IP, while the Total War team are working on historical and fantasy titles for the BAFTA award-winning franchise.
CA is recognised for their people-first culture, with extensive wellbeing, career development, diversity and inclusion, and education initiatives, as well as regular parties including a summer festival. Their Legacy education outreach programme has won multiple Best Education awards and provides a platform for all employees to be ambassadors, sharing their insights, experiences and skills with the wider industry and future generations of game makers.
Location(s): West Sussex, UK and Sofia, Bulgaria
Team size: 800
Key projects [and/or key hiring areas]: New Sci-Fi FPS IP, Total War franchise
Recruitment contact: Emma Smith, Head of Talent, jobs@creative-assembly.com
FROM THE TEAM: JENNY NUTTER, SENIOR LIVE OPERATIONS MANAGER
It’s exciting to be working in Live Operations in the industry right now – it’s a fast paced and quickly evolving area, and I’m especially proud to be part of that at CA. I joined CA around two years ago and was recently promoted to Senior Live Operations Manager. In my role there’s new challenges daily but my team is supported and empowered to deliver what we need to.
I love that I get to work together with a range of passionate, talented people across so many teams. There’s such a variety of backgrounds, talents and interests, and you really feel that united motivation to make experiences that players will love. Everyone I’ve met is keen to hear feedback, whether that’s on the latest assets they’ve created or on studio operations. There’s always something to get involved in and all voices really are valued.
A word that stands out to me is “welcoming”; CA UK is a large, established studio in a relatively quaint and quiet market town, and it feels like a family. A badass family passionate about making the best games.
FROM THE TEAM: ALEXANDRE BREAULT, DESIGN DIRECTOR
I was attracted to CA due to the team’s ambition. After redefining horror with Alien:Isolation they were up for a new challenge: pushing the limits of first-person shooters, and I wanted to be a part of that. We don’t hesitate to tread new ground and we are building a team with diverse experience – one that can bring a unique perspective to the genre and take it further.
It’s a truly collaborative effort with everyone openly sharing ideas and providing feedback. Designers are pushing and helping each other to increase the quality of the game; we start from different ideas, exchange, and evolve them over time. That can only happen with strong trust in the team, with the ability to openly discuss our opinions and to acknowledge our missteps; building on these to deliver a great game.
At the center of our work is the player experience which we assess regularly through team playtests. Those playtests are the highlight of my day – mixing great discussions on how we make the game even better with a good dose of friendly competition on who is the best shot!
Find out more about careers at Creative Assembly.
