Fatbabies.com, one our fave sites around here (or one of mine, at least) recently held a site poll among anonymous employees of north American game developmers about the benefits the said employers provide. The results are certainly interesting. Here's the article...

Thanks again to everyone who submitted information for our highly informal benefits survey. We received a total of 43 entries from all sizes of companies from the smallest developer to the giant Electronic Arts.

Here are the results:

1) Submissions by company size:

- Less than 20 employees: 3

- Between 21 and 50 employees: 7

- From 51 to 100 employees: 11

- 101 to 200 employees: 6

- 201 to 500 employees: 7

- More than 501 employees: 9

2) Does your company have a 401k retirement plan?

- Interestingly enough, 38 of the 43 responses said YES. Even 2 of the 3 smallest companies have 401k plans. Shamefully, 1 of the largest companies did NOT have a 401k plan.

3) Does your company match 401k contributions in some form?

- 16 responses indicated NO (includes the 5 who have no 401k program)

- 9 matched 1-3% of the employee’s contribution

- 11 matched 4-6% of the employee’s contribution

- and 7 matched 7% or greater

Two companies from 21-50 employees actually matched more than 7%… so it’s not just for the largest companies. Another company with 51-100 employees matched more than 7%, as did one with 201-500 people. 3 companies with more than 500 people matched 7% or more.

4) Does your company provide dental coverage?

40 of the 43 responses indicated YES. Of the companies that do NOT provide coverage, one was sized 21-50 employees, one was from 51-100, and the last had greater than 500 employees… It’s difficult to believe a company that large would not provide basic dental coverage, so it leads me to believe this was one submission that was intended to provide false information.

5) Does your company provide vision insurance?

37 of the 43 responses indicated YES. Five of the companies that did not provide vision coverage had between 21 to 50 employees. One company, sized 201 to 500 employees, also did not have vision coverage. Finally the same large company listed above in #4 also did not have vision insurance.

6) Does your company have an Employee Stock Purchase Program?

Obviously this applies only to those companies that are actually public, so it’s not surprising that only a little more than 50% (22 of 43) of the companies had ESPP’s. Most of the smaller companies did not have ESPP’s, while nearly all of the larger companies did.

7) Does your company allow you to work from home?

19 of the 43 responses indicated YES, while 24 said NO. Company size did not appear to affect this.

8) What other perks does your company provide?

Got some very bizarre answers from some of the submissions… including “no pants Thursdays,” great boss Ray Boylan, surfing at a nearby beach, and free “yucky” coffee.

Common responses included: gym membership (both full and subsidized), lunches (subsidized, but 2 companies actually provide free lunches), free or discounted games, crunch time dinners, pizza nights once/week, free soda and juices.

One company allows employees to bring their dogs to work, a few provide commuter checks, 9 give bonuses per project, while 11 give company bonuses. 2 companies give free broadband access at home, 2 have arcade games in-house (including pinball), 4 companies have periodic monthly or quarterly company outings, while 1 company has milestone outings. One large company gives Hawaii house rentals, free tickets to sporting events, on-site massages, and dry cleaning services. 4 others also have on-site massages. A good number of companies provide free breakfast in the form of bagels or donuts once/week.

It is clear from the submissions that for large companies Nintendo comes out head and shoulders above the rest in terms of benefits for their employees. While they do not have ESPP for their employees, they provide numerous bonuses (both project and company based), as well as a ton of perks (gym membership, Hawaii house rental, free tickets to sporting events, on-site massages, dry cleaning services). The shortcoming is they only match 1-3% for the 401k program.

Microsoft scored well too, with amazing (>7%) 401k matching, ESPP, and free soda, subsidized lunches, dinner paid for during crunch, and huge discounts on MS stuff.

Electronic Arts also has some nice benefits, with strong 401k matching, donuts on Fridays, and free games each year, plus a company store for purchasing any EA game at a large discount. The downside is they don’t allow their employees to work from home.

Of the smaller companies, Idol Minds has 401k matching (1-3%), free soda, free lunch once/week, and a free Counterstrike server (heh). They also allow working from home, however they do not have vision insurance.

Pacific Coast Power & Light is impressive for a small company, with >7% 401k matching. It also provides a constant supply of snacks/sodas/fresh fruit/bottled water for its employees, although it does not have vision insurance nor allow its employees to work from home.

Other companies with noteworthy additional perks: Activision, Gamers.com, Totally Games, and Retro Studios.

We received submissions from employees working at the following companies:

Microids Canada, Kinesoft Development, Idol Minds, Pacific Coast Power & Light, Gamers.com, Humongous Entertainment, Activision, Crystal Dynamics, 3DO, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Infogrames, Angel Studios, VM Labs, Nintendo of America, Midway Entertainment, Totally Games, Auran Games, and Retro Studios.