A Polish developer wants to see each of his approximately 500 employees regularly in an office that is probably too small – including those from abroad.
Which studio is it? Apart from CD Projekt RED, our eastern neighbor now hosts several other larger companies dedicated to gaming. In this case, it is Techland, the developers of the zombie action parkour game Dying Light.
Mandatory Commuting with Obstacles
What does Techland intend? According to a report from the Polish website cdaction, Techland wants to see each of its approximately 500 employees working in the office regularly. This includes all employees from abroad. We do not know how many this refers to. So far, about half of the staff has only worked from home.
All employees living in the unspecified vicinity of the studio are expected to spend at least three out of five weekdays in the office, thus in the form of a hybrid model. However, some roles will also require full on-site work as per their contracts.
Those coming from abroad are expected to spend at least eight working days on-site in Wroclaw over two months.
How is this to be fulfilled? How exactly developers from abroad are supposed to meet this requirement is also not mentioned by the colleagues at cdaction. However, anonymous sources from within Techland have commented on another facet of the problem: The offices are far too small for such a drastic increase in personnel at the headquarters.
What is the problem with the offices? How large Techland’s facilities actually are is hard to assess from the outside (Google Street View) and the sources do not provide any details. But since about 250 of the 500 employees have been working from outside, insiders say it is only possible to regularly accommodate a small portion of these additional people in Wroclaw.
Why is Techland taking this step? Techland cites only that they want to improve relationships in the studio as the reason for this measure. However, the departure from the long-maintained home office model seems interesting against another background: Last year, the Chinese software giant Tencent acquired majority shares of the Polish developer.
In another article, we report on something that the zombies from Dying Light would surely initially respect: A combination of a tank and a fighter jet that would make a strong impression even in the universe of Warhammer 40k. However, the shivering would probably quickly fade once it becomes clear that Big Wind is not a weapon, but one of the most impressive fire extinguishers of all time.
