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Dear Team Liquid community,
Crazy Cow Games is looking for talented and passionate people to join our studio to make fun games and build a games business empire with us. We are taking the mobile games industry by storm and need help.
We are looking for like-minded and driven people that either are already in the games industry, or are talented and are looking to get into the industry.
We are working on a strategy game right now. Game production has just begun, so there is plenty of time to influence the shape the final game will take.
About Us:
Our core team has been a part of various competitive communities for a long time and are very passionate about RTS and games in general.
My name is Jason "Fighter2g" Sharp, the founder and CEO of Crazy Cow Games. I was mostly involved in Warcraft 3 from 2002/2003 playing on various sponsored teams and running community events for warcraftreplays.com, I was a Grandmaster in Starcraft 2, and a legend in Hearthstone on both US (got to 1) and China servers (got to 25)
Dennis "Shortround" Chan is our product manager/lead game designer and probably needs very little introduction. He's one of the most successful American players ever in Warcraft 3, Grandmaster in Starcraft 2, Diamond 1 player in LoL, and Hearthstone legend.
We both have been working in the games industry for PC, Web, and Mobile based free-to-play games for many years.
The team is still very small and we plan on staying small (<10) until we strike gold and need to expand.
We are based in Beijing, China so anyone that is interested in a full-time position will be required to relocate.
The games we are making:
Our first title is an empire builder / war strategy MMO for mobile. The game is a mix between Clash of Clans and Kingdoms of Camelot, but with more customization and strategy. We are taking a different route in terms of base mechanics, team mechanics, and battle mechanics that will be more similar to an RTS game than tower defense in many ways. It will be highly competitive that also can be played at a more casual pace.
In the short-run we plan making strategy games primarily as it is where our passion and expertise is and the market is ripe for it, but we also will have various other small projects that might spring up. In the long-run anything is possible.
Right now we are making mobile games only. Mobile is still a growing market, thus there is more opportunity for success. Mobile standards are lower than other platforms (such as PC, web or console), so it requires less upfront work and capital to reach user expectations. It's easier to get funding for mobile as it's very popular right now (we have already been funded). Long story short - mobile is an easier place to start a games business than many of the other established platforms.
Working Here
We have a very relaxed work environment, but we are very serious about the work we do, meaning that we aren't strict about work hours, but we want everyone to be producing their best work. Everyone is in charge of planning their own time and finding tasks to do, and everyone is invested in making the best success possible.
We work loosely on an agile-scrum development framework, and believe strongly in lean-startup methodologies of iteration and market feedback. Good processes are what keep companies strong and teams from swinging too much in productivity, so we try to constantly improve how we do things.
The office is conveniently located near the major commercial hubs of the city (near Guomao / Sanlitun), and there is a selection of both Western and Chinese food nearby.
We provide snacks and beverages at the office, and go out for drinks usually on Fridays. We play various games at lunch or in the evening (Starcraft / LoL / Heroes of the Storm / FPS games). We have a TV, Xbox and playstation at the office as well. We often have meetups with other companies in the city, and I'm trying to organize some kind of gaming competitions with them (although it may not be fair).
Who we are looking for:
You are talented and passionate about games and making money/business. It's important for these two passions to co-exist; we don't pick projects and designs (art or game design) purely based on "fun" or "passion", but also weigh them based on feasibility in the market, team capabilities, costs and potential profits. It's our goal that everyone can participate in these decisions and see both sides of the picture.
You are and expert or have the potential to be an expert in your field and can problem solve.
You are passionate about learning and improving and believe in principles of the 10,000 hour rule.
You are not only passionate about one game type or one genre, such as RTS or MOBA or hardcore fantasy. You have a wide variety of gaming interests, have an open mind and are flexible.
*You must be willing to relocate to Beijing, China. Chinese language ability is a huge plus, but you must at least be willing to learn. We will pay for your plane ticket and visa to China and help you get settled in.
Moving to a new country is scary so we'll help with the process as much as we can. We're all friends and hang out away from the office, such as going to the gym, clubbing, playing sports, playing games etc.
Make Money? You sound evil.
We're a business, and businesses need to make money to sustain themselves and grow for the betterment of employees, investors, executives, and hopefully the fan base, but most importantly in order to keep making more games. The games business is extremely competitive: even Blizzard at this point is barely top-dog anymore.
We want to make great games and we don't want idealism to get in the way of that, which unfortunately is the cause of many game studio failures - inability to manage costs of production and make trade-offs (Square Enix), or adapt to changing market situations (Nintendo).
Costs vs Quality is always going to be a tricky balance that we are very aware of. If there is a market opportunity for a low quality game that can be made quickly, then we'll go for it as long as we are pretty confident in risk-reward analysis. We do not plan on cutting important corners that will endanger the success of our games just for the sake of profits - those types of decisions usually end in very unprofitable games.
We're here not just to make games, but also to make money and improve the quality of life for everyone that works with us.
Everyone that contributes will be rewarded. We have stock options and revenue share plans for everyone. The better the company does, the better everyone does. The bigger share of your contribution, the bigger share of the rewards you will get.
Why China?
The Chinese market has lower standards than the US market (easier to exceed), more users, higher paying users, and is expected to double in size in the next year. We have many years experience with the Chinese market and understand what types of games are successful here and the difference in user behavior compared to the US. We also have publishing connections here as well with major publishers.
China overall is more convenient for operating a game company:
1. Cost of living is lower than it is in the US
2. Talent is concentrated in 3 large cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen.
3. Publishers, distributors and media are also concentrated in these cities.
4. Talent is less expensive. Great talent is hard to find for many reasons, but lower level positions are easy to fill and very inexpensive.
5. Tax Breaks
6. Chinese food rocks
7. The night life is fun
Life in China
Life in China is actually pretty awesome (I've been here nearly 7 years already and still love it), minus the pollution, but we have filters in the office that clears it out.
China is actually much more developed than most people think and very capitalist, just a bit dirty and there are a lot of people. You can find all of your favorite foods here, brand shopping etc. You can continue most hobbies that you have in the States here (especially e-sports). Getting around the city is very convenient by bike, subway, and taxi (taxis are cheap).
Not speaking Chinese does make life inconvenient here, but we have English speakers in the office to help, and the language actually isn't that difficult to pick up so you'll be speaking enough to get by in no time.
Current open positions:
We're looking to fill these positions within 30-60 days. If you want to apply, please apply now.
1)Programmer (3 positions open): we're building the game using Cocos-2d-x. Requires experience with C++, OpenGL, Lua and Java. Front/back-end are both available, but we prefer candidates that aren't limited in discipline.
2) Artists (2 positions open): We're looking for a lead artist and a UI artist. We're planning a 2d cartoon fantasy style for the first game, but flexibility in style is important.
We currently aren't actively looking for game designers, but we may consider if there are excellent candidates. We already have a game designer on the team, and making games is much like cooking - you can't have too many chefs in the kitchen, especially for mobile games which in general are small in scale.
How to Apply:
If you feel that you meet the criteria listed above then please send an email with a brief introduction of yourself including what game you're playing and at what level (such as Masters), CV, and link to your portfolio (if an artist) to jobs@crazycowgames.net.
If you aren't interested but know someone who might be please spread the word!
