Recruiter Hot Seat: Radiant Worlds

BIO
Name: Philip Oliver
Title: CEO & Co-Founder
Company: Radiant Worlds
www.RadiantWorlds.com

What differentiates your studio from other developers?
Radiant Worlds is a new studio so you probably haven’t heard of us. We haven’t released a game yet, but the company has over 50 experienced devs currently making one game.

We have a fantastic opportunity afforded to us by one of the richest global publishers who have entrusted us to make what we consider to be our ideal game. While there is an overall vision, the team designs the title as they are working on it; so everyone has input and everyone cares. Together, working as a team we are making what we feel is a truly wonderful game.

How many staff are you currently looking to take on?
We are looking for between ten-to-20 experienced games developers within the next six-to-12 months. The majority being experienced programmers. Our publisher loves our PC game so much that they want to release it on a number of other platforms. Whilst it’s not announced yet, everyone has extremely high hopes for its success.

What opportunities and perks are available to those working at Radiant Worlds?
The culture. We are working towards ambitious goals but everyone helps make the creative decisions required to get us where we need to be.

People who work at Radiant Worlds enjoy coming into work. They like the people that they work with, the environment they work in and the game that they all play a part in making. Everyone can contribute ideas whatever their position and the best ideas are taken into the game, regardless of where they came from. We also allow people to make titles in their own time, which they then completely own, so it’s not an either/or choice at Radiant Worlds.

What should aspiring developers do with their CV to help ensure they get an interview?
Obviously talented people should send us their CVs and from that information we would hope to clearly understand why they are good at what they do.

Once our game is announced and people start to play it, we expect we will see a lot more people apply to work with us. Please send us your CV, come in for a chat and judge the game, the company and the team for yourself. We are pretty confident that once you do meet us, you’ll want to stay and work with us.

We are setting our standards pretty high. We need some seriously good developers to join our elite team.
If you think you fit the bill, then
please get in touch.

Who is the best interviewee you have ever had and how did they impress you?
Having worked in the industry for almost 20 years and offered hundreds of people jobs, it’s difficult to single any one person out. Generally those guys who are passionate about games; they love playing them and want to join a team to make better ones that come out the best.

If I had to choose just one, then it would be John. Almost 20 years ago, I took a call from a recruitment agency. ‘I have a guy in the area, interviewing locally – could he come in and see you this morning?’ I had no
pre-conceived ideas about him when he came in to see us. He was young, shy and modest.

He said he’d seen this new art package called 3D Studio Max and it fascinated him. ‘It’s too expensive to buy, so I decided to see if I could write it myself’. He then loaded up his demo, and wow! He had done it all from memory and it looked amazing, with most of the functionality. We offered him a job on the spot.

And who was the worst?
There’s confident and there’s cocky. Some of the worst interviewees are those that think they know it all. I learnt very early on in my career that the more you learn, the more you realise how little you do know. People who think they know it all have not even started on their learning curve.

People should also learn to have a respect for seasoned professionals – it’s important not to judge until you have all of the information. Nowadays, with access to information via Google etcetera, there is no excuse for coming to an interview unprepared. You should know about the company and their games, so please prepare.

Why should developers join a studio like yours when indie and self-publishing have become so much more accessible?
Experienced developers understand that success in the indie arena is a lottery. It can be very high risk and resources are limited. Big teams have experts in all disciplines and can help you aim for more ambitious goals.
We pride ourselves on having the atmosphere and culture of a small scale independent developer, but
the resources and stability of a professional studio.

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