VG Entertainment’s Growth in 2023

Hey there!

Wow, 2023 has been a year of considerable expansion and diving into some cool innovations. We’re super excited to share with you some of the changes we’ve made in our team. 

We’re not claiming to have reinvented the wheel here, as some changes might have already happened at other companies. However, our experience shows that it’s never too late to make improvements. For us, it’s all about the positive vibes these changes bring to our team. So, we’ll be glad if our experience will come in handy.

New Name, New Website, But Still The Same Us

We began with global things and became VG Entertainment. While our previous name Vostok Games was a reference to the spacecraft that carried the first human into Earth’s orbit, we felt it was time to move away from any associations with the USSR. This change couldn’t have come at a better time.

Moving on from the Vostok Games trademark, we’ve decided to use the company’s legal name – VG Entertainment. Along with that, we’ve completely changed the logo and the website you’re currently on. And here’s a little teaser: this also hints that our next project will be a little different. 😉 At the same time, our main mission of discovering new gaming worlds and exploring the unknown remains unchanged.

Updated Presentations for Candidates

Regarding the gaming worlds we’re exploring, we still can’t share much about our current project. What we can tell you is that it’s a first-person shooter built around a brand-new IP. Our team is growing, and we’re working hard to make an announcement soon, where we’ll unveil more about this new universe. So far, we’ve discussed our shift from Unreal Engine 4 to UE 5.

One tip we’re happy to share is the importance of regularly updating product presentations for interviews with candidates. This practice gives potential team members a clearer picture of the project and how they might contribute to it. 

Expansion of the Recruitment Team

With the active development of the project, our hiring rates have tripled. First of all, we needed to expand the recruitment and HR department. Managing the needs of the entire studio single-handedly was quite a challenge. 

Now, with a full team on board, we’re not just enhancing existing policies like onboarding, offboarding, and performance reviews; we’re also introducing new features and bonus programs. We’re excited to dive into these in the upcoming sections.

Bonus Programs

In 2023, we introduced a referral program and sign-on (welcome) bonus.

• The referral program has helped us engage the team internally. Friends recommending friends was always a cool thing, but adding a bonus really boosted the process, getting more people involved in recruiting. 
• The welcome bonus is a pleasant surprise for certain roles. It’s still in the testing phase, but we have the first teammate to get this bonus. As Luke, a Narrative Designer who recently joined us, says, “The sign-on bonus was a major plus that significantly impacted my decision to join the studio. It demonstrated to me that VG is willing to invest in its people, which I think is a big positive for any organization.”

Benefits Upgrade

It was also the right time to systematize our benefits offer and introduce even more things for comfortable and productive work. The result? Corporate English courses, a transparent sick leave policy, and extra paid days off for birthdays and blood donation days. We’ve also created detailed instructions on how to take these days off, apply for sick leave without a doctor’s certificate, or sign up for English classes.

So far, we are receiving very good feedback, for example, Yevhenii, Art QA, shared that “It’s great that the company encourages good deeds. You donate blood, get a day off, and earn a ‘karma point’. I’ve already donated twice at the donor center on Arsenalna and will continue to do that, as there is always a need for donors.”

Our long New Year’s vacation remains a beloved tradition that we’ve kept this year too! 🙂

Steps to Automation

With our rapid growth this year (and an even busier 2024 that we are anticipating), we’re automating routine HR processes. Starting in early January, we’ll have a user-friendly system for managing vacations, sick leaves, and additional days off. We’re also introducing a unified performance review system to streamline reward growth. This should help the team achieve goals aligned with the company’s strategy and also provide vast development opportunities for each employee, considering their personal goals.

Help to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine is a must-have for us, and we’re actively involved in donations and organizing our own initiatives. Several of our developers, whose financial rewards we’ve fully retained, serve in the Armed Forces, and many of our teammates are involved in volunteer activities.

At the company level, we’ve redirected most of our corporate event funds to support the army. We still hold small team-building events and celebrations of important dates, but most of this budget goes to our defenders. We told more about those initiatives here.

Recently, we’ve launched a New Year’s charity initiative, with the entire team participating. Its goal is to support the medical unit of a teammate who has been rescuing wounded soldiers since February 24, 2022, and help the 635th Separate Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun Battalion. We’ve collected funds for a pickup truck, its repair and medical equipment, as well as for a night vision device. The company doubled the funds raised and sent them to the units, while five of our randomly selected participants, as well as the top donator, got presents from the studio.

New Vacancies Every Month

Despite challenging times, we’re not slowing down. We’re scaling up recruitment, with new vacancies popping up monthly. This means that we are gaining momentum so that the world can see our new game as soon as possible and that the quality of the game is high.

We’re growing in almost all development areas and are currently seeking a Senior Character 3D Artist, Senior Character Animator, 3D Environment Artist, Senior Material Artist, and Senior Level 3D Artist. If you’re interested in joining our team, we’d love to meet you!

As you can see, we improve working conditions, value our teammates’ opinions, and do everything to maintain a healthy work-life balance for everyone.

Sounds? Pick up the job opportunity that matches your experience from the Career section and send us your resume! 😉