Insomniac Games is still supporting remote employees

According to Insomniac Games' Bryan Intihar, the studio is maintaining its remote work policy after it was initially made during the early days of the COVID pandemic. 

Talking to GamesIndustry, the creative director for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 discussed how the developer has worked to ensure the safety of its employees in recent years. Much of the upcoming PlayStation 5 title, he revealed, was made during COVID while its staff was working from home.

The entire industry switched to remote work in 2020, though some studios have gradually walked back that policy this year. Last week, Ubisoft Montreal reversed its stance on working from home, saying employees must now show up to the office for two days out of the five-day work week.

Intihar noted that remote work was supported by PlayStation, and its staff has continued to be "super productive." Marvel's Spider-Man 2 isn't the only game this year (or from Insomniac) to be made remotely, and Intihar said the studio learned "it's about doing what is right for you."

"When we left for COVID, everybody got sent home, and they asked me 'when do you want to come back?'" he recalled before responding, "'The second we can be back in the office'. But today, I work completely remotely."

Intihar believes studios will need the flexibility of working from home, to the benefit of employees. "Yes, we spend a lot of time making games, but we all have friends and family, children to take care of...that's important. And if you're happy outside of work, hopefully that should make life inside work better."

The full interview with Bryan Intihar, which further includes Insomniac's relationship with Sony after being acquired by PlayStation and its iterative development process, can be read here.