This year the 2015 IGDA Developer Satisfaction Survey again asked which developer or publisher people in the game industry would most like to work for. The question was asked to 2928 respondents in the 2015 Developer Satisfaction Survey, 996 of whom responded with valid answers. In total, 170 unique responses were gathered, 96 of which were only mentioned once. You can find a complete list below.
Last year, Valve came out on top, with just over 12% of respondents indicating that this is the company they would most like to work for. “My own company” came in close second with 11.8% of the vote. These responses were followed (not so closely) by Blizzard (5.3%), Bioware (4.5%) and Ubisoft (4.4%). The full report on this data can be found below.
This year the top five were similar — only one company was replaced — but there was some notable rank-shuffling. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Valve came out on top again this year, garnering 13.4% of the vote — that’s slightly over 1% more than last year. This count for Valve includes two respondents who said 'Steam' and one who named Gabe Newell. But this year professionals are less eager to work for themselves: only 4.7% of respondents indicated that they would most like to work for their own company. This is more than a 50% decrease in responses from last year, although the response did still make the top five, coming in at number five. Bioware again made the top five, ranking at number four with 5.3% of the vote. Ubisoft dropped to number 8 and was replaced by Riot Games (6.4%), which came in at number 3. This is almost a four-fold increase for Riot Games, who came in at number 13 last year with only 1.7% of respondents indicating they’d like to work there.
Activision Blizzard again made the top five, coming in at number 2, but similar to last year, most respondents indicated that they would like to work specifically for Blizzard. In fact, of the 8.2% of respondents who mentioned Activision Blizzard, 92.5% said Blizzard as opposed to Activision Blizzard or Activision. When considered as separate entities, Blizzard ranks at number 2, and Activision and Activision Blizzard both received the same number of votes, ultimately ranking at number 26.
Similarly to the Activsion Blizzard conglomerate, if Take 2 is combined with Rockstar and the 2K Games family, they land in the 15th most chosen spot tied with Electronic Arts. Otherwise Rockstar is 18th, 2K Games is tied for 28th and Take 2 is tied for 29th.
Often respondents specified a specific studio location – for instance Ubisoft Montreal or Rockstar San Diego. Though we recognize that different studios can have their own culture and practices, for the simplicity of this list, in all cases these were combined under the main parent company label.
Some respondents didn’t mention a company name at all. Instead, they gave us some insight into what qualities they would like the company they work for to have:
•“In the same state where my sweetheart lives”
•“Studio location is more important at this stage in my life. There are lots of studios that appear good from the outside.”
•“Small to middle-sized company”
Other respondents (1.4%) said they are happy at their current employer but this data could be misleading and under-reported. Some respondents might have named the company they currently work for, but not indicated that they already work there. There were also respondents who indicated that they would work for any company (1.1%) and others indicated they’d rather not work in the game industry at all (1%). A few people (0.3%) weren’t sure who they would like to work for, but most respondents had a company in mind.
| Ranking | Response | Frequency | Valid Percent | |
| 1 | Valve | 134 | 13.4 | |
| 2 | Blizzard | 75 | 7.5 | |
| 3 | Riot Games | 63 | 6.3 | |
| 4 | Bioware | 52 | 5.2 | |
| 5 | My own studio | 47 | 4.7 | |
| 6 | Nintendo | 45 | 4.5 | |
| 7 | Bethesda Softworks | 36 | 3.6 | |
| 8 | Ubisoft | 32 | 3.2 | |
| 9 | Naughty Dog | 25 | 2.5 | |
| 10 | Double Fine Productions | 24 | 2.4 | |
| 11 | Bungie | 21 | 2.1 | |
| 11 | Obsidian Entertainment | 21 | 2.1 | |
| 12 | Sony | 19 | 1.9 | |
| 13 | TT Games Group | 18 | 1.8 | |
| 14 | Square Enix | 17 | 1.7 | |
| 15 | Electronic Arts | 16 | 1.6 | |
| 16 | Microsoft | 15 | 1.5 | |
| 17 | My current employer | 14 | 1.4 | |
| 17 | Paradox Interactive | 14 | 1.4 | |
| 18 | Rockstar Games | 13 | 1.3 | |
| 19 | Anyone | 11 | 1.1 | |
| 20 | None of them | 10 | 1.0 | |
| 21 | Insomniac Games | 9 | 0.9 | |
| 22 | ArenaNet | 8 | 0.8 | |
| 22 | Epic Games | 8 | 0.8 | |
| 23 | Firaxis Games | 7 | 0.7 | |
| 23 | From Software | 7 | 0.7 | |
| 23 | Thatgamecompany | 7 | 0.7 | |
| 24 | CD Projekt Capital Group | 6 | 0.6 | |
| 24 | An independent company | 6 | 0.6 | |
| 24 | Stardock | 6 | 0.6 | |
| 24 | Supergiant Games | 6 | 0.6 | |
| 25 | CCP Games | 5 | 0.5 | |
| 25 | Gearbox Studios | 5 | 0.5 | |
| 25 | Konami | 5 | 0.5 | |
| 26 | Capcom | 4 | 0.4 | |
| 26 | Cloud Imperium Games | 4 | 0.4 | |
| 26 | Retro Studios | 4 | 0.4 | |
| 27 | Activision | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Activision Blizzard | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Atlus | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Harmonix | 3 | 0.3 | 27 |
| 27 | Inxile Entertainment | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Magic Leap | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Not sure | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Platinum Games | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Small to middle sized company | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Supercell | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 27 | Zynga | 3 | 0.3 | |
| 28 | 2K Family | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Arkane Studios | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Bandai | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Chillingo | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Crytek | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Devolver Digital | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Drinkbox Studios | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Eidos | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Failbetter Games | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Grinding Gear Games | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Minority Media | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Mojang | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Motiga | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Oculus | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Olde Skuul | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Piranha Games | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Popcap | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Rocksteady | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Runic Games | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Running with Scissors | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Sega | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Sucker Punch | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Turtlerock Studios | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Wargaming | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Warhorse Studio | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 28 | Zenimax Media | 2 | 0.2 | |
| 29 | 343 Industries | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Amazon | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Apistudios | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Apple | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Arrowhead | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Autobotika | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Avalanche | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Behaviour Interactive | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Bally Tech | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Black Gate Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Bohemia Interactive | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Bugbear Entertainment | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Campo Santo | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Capybara Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Compulsion | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Crystal Dynamics | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Daedalic | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Deep Silver Volition | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Department of Education | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Descendent Studios | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Dice | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Digital Extremes | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Disney | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Elephant Mouse | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Eleven Bit Studios | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Ensemble Studios | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Fingersoft | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Forge | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Fullbright | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Gaijin Softworks | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Games Journalism | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Gaslamp Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Glasslab | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | GOG | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | 1 | 0.1 | ||
| 29 | Hinterlands | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Id Software | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | IGT | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Ion Game Design | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Jagex | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | King | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Kitfox Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Klei | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Kotaku Media | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Larian Studios | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Line | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Lionhead | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Marvel | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Marvelous Entertainment | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Microprose | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Mouldy Toof Studios | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Multimedia Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Neuron Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Nimble Bit | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Nonfiction Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Not EA | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Oliver Campbell - game journalist | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Origin Software | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Peter Molyneux | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Pieces Interactive | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Pikpok | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Playcorp Studios | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Playdek | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Postmortem Studios | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Ravensoft | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Rebellion Entertainment | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Red Thread Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Relic | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Rizing Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Roblox Corporation | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Robot Loves Kitty | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Rooster Teeth | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Serenity | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Splash Damage | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Studio Diasporadic | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Take 2 | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Tale of Tales | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Tamsoft | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Teckla | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Telltale Games | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Tencent | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | The Astronauts | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Tivola Mobile | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Total | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Unity | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Versus Evil | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Vlambeer | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | War Child | 1 | 0.1 | |
| 29 | Yager Development | 1 | 0.1 | |