Do you know any stories of artists who got hired in AAA and then fired after the first month?

ned_poreyra

Not talking about unexpected layoffs here. I just wonder if it's possible to pass through the sieve of getting your portfolio noticed, talking to HR, passing the art test, then first interview, then second interview with the art director, negotiating the contract, signing the contract, finally going to work and after the first month - for some reasons no one has thought of - they realize "wait, this guy can't get shit done...". Do you know any stories like this?

Eric Chadwick

Sure, it happens.

We have a 3 month training system, to get new hires up to speed. It's not a common thing in game dev, but we need it for our purposes. We "graduate" about 95% at the end.

Anyhow, yes some people just don't cut it. And you try to find this out as far in advance as you can. But nothing is final.

Why do you ask? 

Amsterdam Hilton Hotel

So far I've only seen it one time with a concept artist who had trouble working without photo bases. I've also seen the opposite where an artist quit after two or three weeks because of disliking the studio dynamic. 

garcellano

I can't really think of any after a month especially at a AAA studio (I didn't work at that many).

Maybe after like 3 months, yeah, I vaguely remember one artist getting laid off, only because he wasn't as experienced, or what they were looking for. He was a Jr artist, ended up moving back to Austin, and was able to land another gig not long after that. 

I want to say there was another artist I worked with, remotely, when I was on military sims. I don't remember if he stayed for a month or three months, but he didn't stay that long. Same situation. Not as experienced. 

It might be too soon, after a month, unless it's very obvious that they're not a good fit? 

poopipe

I've known people fail probation periods in various roles. Usually it's a case of them not living up to the expectations created by their portfolio or cv - I've seen the reverse too, the shortest time before someone quit was a half day (not games industry) although I'm led to believe that there were preexisting circumstances rather than it being directly related to the job.