Christopher Marchfelder tells more about his job at Travian Games

What makes your new job at Travian Games so exciting?

I think any IT expert asked this question will say “the technology”! But it’s really true in this case. When I started here, I assumed that I’d be working in a familiar environment without many surprises and some pretty uniform day-to-day tasks. I was very wrong! I was amazed on my first day, when I saw how much work goes into a high-quality game production. I also saw many problems with which I was already familiar that were solved using much better – or more efficient – solutions than those I have seen at other companies. This professionalism and determination to constantly improve mean that I always look forward to coming to work and I enjoy being part of the Travian Games family.
I can apply my own ideas to solving problems, continue to educate myself, and play my part in creating a high-quality game for millions of players – all these things give me immense satisfaction in my job.

What makes Travian Games different from your previous employers?

When I started working with Team Remamun, it felt like Christmas had come early – the team spirit was something I had never experienced before. You can tell immediately that everybody was passionate about working together to achieve a common goal. Communication between the departments and with managers also works very well thanks to the excellent structures that have been put in place for everybody from system administration to game design. Nobody turns up and asks why they didn’t get a certain piece of information two months ago or why something isn’t ready yet. Everybody is on the same page and fully committed.

Travian Games also does a lot to promote the continued education and training of its employees. It supports everything from weekly “Tech Talks” to places at conferences – I’m answering this from the Percona in London. The opportunities that Travian Games provides for us are incredible.

What do you like about the working atmosphere at Travian Games?

Above all, I appreciate the cooperative and respectful tone that is common throughout the organization all the way to the top, maintaining the feel of a flat hierarchy. I have never seen anybody “pull rank” here. When there is a problem, it is approached with constructive and open dialog in order to achieve the shared objective.
But my favorite think about the company are all the joint activities that go on outside of working hours. These can be anything from the once-per-month "happy hour", a trip to Gamescom, a big summer party with employees’ families, or sporting activities such as a company fun run, soccer games or visits to the gym. Travian Games does a lot to promote cross-departmental activities, which helps to strengthen personal interaction with my 200+ colleagues.

What was your experience of the REMANUM launch?

I’ve been to a few launches in my career and I was very pleased with how smoothly the Remanum launch went. The team worked very professionally right up to the last moment and I’ll never forget all the happy faces when the game finally went online. A lot of work went into that launch and everybody played their part.
But there was no time to rest on our laurels after the launch. We got right back to work in all areas - from game design to product management and programming. We do everything to ensure that the game is successful and constantly maintained and updated to ensure that our users have a product that remains exciting in the long term!