Bulkhead checks Steam accounts to ensure hires are FPS fans

Bulkhead, the studio behind Wardogs, screens prospective hires by examining their Steam accounts to confirm they are genuine FPS fans before joining the team.

Executive director Joe Brammer explained the reasoning to GamesRadar+: "You wouldn't let me go and make Final Fantasy because I apparently wouldn't know where to start on a genre I'm unfamiliar with." He argues that hiring developers with genuine passion for shooters ensures the studio remains focused on the genre it knows.

"I like to think that if you're an FPS fan, we're trying to do right by that audience," Brammer said. "We won't always get it right, but we like people to know where their money is going and what type of studio it's going into, and someone that they feel they can share values with."

Wardogs senior producer Kane Allard confirmed the studio checks every applicant's Steam record to verify "you're passionate about FPS games" before they begin work on the shooter.

Brammer clarified the approach isn't a judgment on developers' worth. "It doesn't make you a worse developer" to play other genres, he said, but Bulkhead wants to hire people who "really care about the details of what we're doing." The studio prioritizes developers with shooter experience to maintain its vision and expertise in the space.