I'm constantly being asked why we generally don't hire Junior's at Moon. I will try to explain why:
It just all boils down to efficiency. Scaling a team from 20 to 40 heads doesn't mean your studio is now twice as efficient. The real number there is probably just a 20-40% increase in productivity.
There are overhead costs for every single new person we introduce. Which means that we need to hire people that can carry their own weight from day 1.
We had plenty of opportunities before to accept investments to grow Moon to a ridiculous size, work on multiple projects at once, etc., but we declined those offers every single time since to us, Quality matters more than Quantity.
We named Moon Studios after JFK's speech, specifically the "We do it not because it's easy, but because it's hard" part. I always found that bit inspiring since it speaks to the satisfaction one gets from overcoming incredible challenge.
We are absolutely okay with not betting on short-term investments, instead we always bet on our long-term vision.
From Day1, we always wanted to be a smaller, elite team of incredibly talented individuals instead of becoming yet another bloated AAA studio.
At Moon, we don't just make products: Our goal has to be to work on projects that our team members can be proud of for the rest of their lives.
Too often these days game development is just about annual revenues and other misguided short term ideas. Instead, the focus should be on quality and building a brand that people trust. Because that is how you build a company that people love and support.