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How to get a job at MMX Racing developer Hutch

CEO Shaun Rutland shares insights

How to get a job at MMX Racing developer Hutch

Hutch may have just hired Ian Griffiths and Peter Hansen-Chambers, but there's room for more.

The London-based developer, which also has a studio in Brighton, has found success with its metrics-over-chart-position approach since its formation in 2011.

And it's been no slouch in terms of output either, with five games - MMX Racing, MMX Hill Climb, Smash Cops, Smash Cops Heat, and Smash Bandits - already under its belt.

Now, with the upcoming Race Kings in soft launch and Top Drives on the cusp, Hutch is growing again.

So PocketGamer.biz reached out to CEO Shaun Rutland to learn more about Hutch's company culture and what it's looking for in employees.

PocketGamer.biz: Could you give us some background on Hutch and what you do?

Shaun Rutland: We are a London and Brighton-based studio with over 50 staff. Our goal is to create the best racing games for mobile.

We believe small, focused and empowered teams build the best games and we work hard to maintain an open, transparent and self-determined culture.

Founded in 2011, we have released five games - including MMX Racing and MMX Hill Climb - with over 90 million players across the world.

The teams at Hutch have colourful backgrounds ranging from F2P Facebook, mobile, console and non-gaming professionals. We all share a passion for making great games.

What specific areas/disciplines are you currently hiring in?

Our employees are the most important part of the business. We are continuously searching for the brightest, most passionate and talented individuals.

Our employees are the most important part of the business.
Shaun Rutland

Currently, we are looking for engineers, UI and 3D artists, marketers and analysts to join us in London or Brighton.

As you're overseeing recruitment at Hutch, what do you look for in candidates?

We look for candidates with expertise, passion, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn and share their experiences.

Candidates need to demonstrate they love working in a team, that they are interested in how and why things work.

Ultimately, people that yearn for responsibility, have an entrepreneurial spirit to try new things, take chances and push our games forward.

Why do you think Hutch is a good place to work? How will you be trying to encourage a strong company culture?

We are proud of our work/life balance approach to development and have a flexible working environment.

For example, in London we allow working from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays to reduce commuting time and to enable the team to focus on deeper tasks away from our lively London studio.

Hutch is structured around the game teams and a lot of energy is invested into empowering the teams to build the games they believe in.

Keep things simple but make it abundantly clear that you care.
Shaun Rutland

Naturally, we operate under constraints but these serve to help move the projects along and to focus the teams.

What advice would you have for someone trying to get into the games industry?

Understanding what you’re passionate about and making sure people can see your strengths in this area.

Keep things simple but make it abundantly clear that you care about what you do.

You can do this by pulling together a presentation about your favourite game, why it’s good and what it means to your prospective employer, even better if you have produced your own game or project, present how that project went and the tough choices you had to make.

You can view Hutch's current vacancies here.

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Features Editor

Matt is really bad at playing games, but hopefully a little better at writing about them. He's Features Editor for PocketGamer.biz, and has also written for lesser publications such as IGN, VICE, and Paste Magazine.