TraverseWork with us
Menu

Working with Traverse

A team that owns the problem.

A pod that owns a workstream, or senior capacity reserved for the run-in to ship. Work starts with 16 weeks, ramp-up included: four four-week sprints with build reviews every two weeks, continuing against a roadmap we agree together.

Pods and retainersSee how it works

The initial commitment

16 weeks

Four sprints. Ramp-up included.

  1. Sprint 1Weeks 1–4Ramp-up + delivery
  2. Sprint 2Weeks 5–8Build + review
  3. Sprint 3Weeks 9–12Build + review
  4. Sprint 4Weeks 13–16Build + review
Within every sprintWeek 2: build + reviewWeek 4: build + review

Access, build setup and codebase onboarding start in Sprint 1. We agree ramp-up goals and the first delivery priorities with your leads.

Engagement models

Buy a capability, not headcount.

Most studios hand a workstream to a pod, or reserve senior capacity for the run-in to ship. Embedded engineers and a fixed-price audit cover everything in between.

Recommended

A pod: four engineers who own the result.

Give a pod a target, such as a frame-time budget on PS5, a new lighting system or a platform SKU, and it plans, builds and ships the work inside your pipeline. One lead runs the team day to day, so your leads review results instead of managing four contractors.

  • Less to manageThe pod lead splits the work, runs the stand-ups and reports progress. You set the target and review the builds.
  • Lower cost per engineerA pod is priced as one unit, and per engineer it costs less than embedding the same four people individually.
  • The founder reviews itJasper Bekkers, formerly a rendering engineer at DICE, reviews the work with your leads every month.
Scope a pod with us

16 weeks, six months or twelve months. Longer terms cost less.

Your technical leadSets the target, reviews builds
One point of contact
Pod leadPlans, splits and reports
Engineer
Engineer
Engineer

Runnable build every two weeks

Monthly review with Jasper Bekkers

Workstreams a pod can own

  • Hit a frame-time budget on a target platform
  • Build a new lighting or GI system
  • Ship ray tracing, upscaling or frame generation
  • Bring a platform SKU through certification
  • Raise performance on a mobile device tier

For the months before launch

Pre-launch retainer

Engineers on standby for the problems that show up close to launch: a frame-rate drop, a memory overrun, a GPU crash on one device, a failed certification check. They already know your build, so they start fixing on day one.

  1. Reserve a block of engineer-weeks8, 16 or 24 weeks of engineering, to use any time in the next six months.
  2. We get your build running nowOne engineer spends three days on build access, captures and your codebase at the start, so nobody ramps up during a crisis.
  3. Call engineers in when something breaksTwo weeks’ notice, or five working days when it is urgent. Use one engineer-week at a time, or several engineers at once.
8 weeksup to 2 engineers at once
16 weeksup to 3 engineers at once
24 weeksup to 4 engineers at once

Weeks you do not use count towards a pod or embedded engagement signed in the same six months.

Embedded engineers

One to three engineers inside your engine, branch and build pipeline, from 16 weeks with ramp-up included. The rate steps down at six and twelve months.

How an embedded engagement runs

Need proof first? A fixed-price audit.

Two weeks with one engineer, or four weeks with two: we review your rendering and GPU work and hand you a prioritised plan. The fee is credited in full against a pod or embedded engagement signed within three months.

How we price

One rate, with the team matched to your request.

Like any studio, our team has senior and less senior engineers. Rather than pricing each level separately, we quote one rate and match the people to what your project needs. If the work shifts, we rebalance within the team, so you are not renegotiating a rate card halfway through.

Your project needsWe put on it
Renderer architectureSenior rendering engineer
GPU profiling on the target consoleOptimisation engineer
Shader and lighting workRendering engineer
Build, tools and platform fixesGeneralist engineer

One rate for every engineer. If the work shifts, we rebalance the team.

Quoted per staff month

Per engineer per four weeks and per staff month, in euros and excluding VAT, so it sits next to blended rates in your comparison.

Longer terms, lower rate

The per-engineer rate steps down for six-month and twelve-month commitments. A pod is priced as a single unit.

All in, lead included

No account-management fee, and no separate charge for the lead on a pod.

From hello to handover

Always know the next step.

You don’t need a finished statement of work to start. Bring the question, the target and the constraints. We work through the next decisions together.

Start with a short outline

Frame the question

Tell us about the project, target platforms or hardware, and the constraint you are trying to solve. We discuss the context, access requirements and what a useful first investigation would establish.

Plan the first 16 weeks

We agree the initial 16-week commitment, scope, acceptance criteria and responsibilities. The plan includes ramp-up, early investigations and the first delivery goals. Where uncertainty is high, a prototype tests the difficult assumptions.

Ramp up in your pipeline

We establish access, build the project, learn the relevant systems and agree ownership with your technical leads. Ramp-up is part of the initial commitment, with progress and dependencies visible from the first sprint.

Build and review together

The initial engagement contains four four-week sprints, with build reviews every two weeks. Work stays in your Perforce or GitHub source control, tracked in your Jira and discussed in your Slack. We align the next goal with your priorities and plan any continuation together.

Continue or hand over clearly

Longer projects continue against an agreed roadmap. Release responsibilities, integration, documentation and support are defined with your team, so ownership is clear at a milestone, handover or renewal.

Your teamPriorities + project context

Direct conversation

Traverse engineersImplementation + technical review

One delivery process

A shared buildSource control / build / review / next goal

An extension of your team

You spend less time passing messages and more time making progress.

Your technical leads speak directly to the people writing the code. Your producers see the roadmap. Your team reviews the result in the pipeline it already uses.

Meet the people behind the work

The practical details.

A clear scope. A build every two weeks. One shared delivery process.

Scope and prototype

We start with the problem, the target and a representative build. A scoped prototype tests the risky assumptions before the work becomes a production commitment. The output is something the client can inspect and a roadmap based on what the investigation found.

The first 16 weeks include ramp-up

The initial engagement is a 16-week commitment, organised into four four-week sprints. Ramp-up starts in the first sprint: access, build setup, understanding the relevant systems and taking ownership of the agreed work. Its goals and dependencies are planned with your team.

Build reviews happen every two weeks. Early reviews cover the working baseline, findings and first changes; subsequent reviews track delivery against the roadmap. Sixteen weeks is the initial commitment, while the full project may continue for as long as the agreed work requires.

Your pipeline

We adopt your source control, build infrastructure, review gates and milestones. In practice that usually means Perforce or GitHub for source, Jira for tracking and Slack for the day-to-day conversation, and for Unreal projects it means working in your engine branch rather than a fork of our own. We use the tools your team already uses; we do not ask you to adopt ours.

There is no account layer between your technical team and the people implementing the work. Questions reach the engineers who can answer them.

Ship and support

Shipping responsibilities, acceptance criteria and support are agreed as part of the scope. A release is not the moment to discover that two teams understood the handover differently.

Transparency, iteration, alignment

Transparency means live roadmap access and direct discussion of the implementation. Iteration means reviewing the work through runnable builds. Alignment means working inside the client’s delivery process and making technical trade-offs against the project’s own priorities.

Licensing and confidentiality

Traverse is licensed on every major console platform. Platform details, access and NDA handling are agreed with the client before the work begins. Public case studies use only approved project information. Vendor access runs under NDA or mutual NDA, and nothing from your project is shared without your approval. Security, NDAs and IP · Ways to start.

Before we begin.

What should we bring to the first conversation?

A short project outline, target platforms or hardware, the main technical question and any timing constraints. A representative build or capture can help later; we agree access and confidentiality before sharing sensitive material.

Can we start with a focused investigation?

Yes. A fixed-price rendering and performance audit of two or four weeks is the smallest engagement, and its fee is credited against a longer engagement signed within three months. See the engagement models at the top of this page.

How many sprints will our project need?

We start with a 16-week commitment, covering four four-week sprints and including ramp-up. Your scope determines the overall project duration. Further work is planned together, with build reviews every two weeks throughout delivery.

Is ramp-up included in the 16 weeks?

Yes. Access, build setup, codebase onboarding and the initial investigations are part of the commitment. We agree the ramp-up goals and dependencies up front rather than assuming every project needs the same onboarding time.

Who works on our project?

Engineers from our Breda team matched to what your project needs and agreed in the scope. If the work shifts, we rebalance within the team. Your leads talk to them directly.

Can we see the rate card?

Yes. Ask for it in the first conversation. We quote per engineer per four weeks and per staff month, in euros, excluding VAT.

Who handles release and ongoing support?

Responsibilities, acceptance criteria and any support period are agreed as part of the scope. We discuss those boundaries before delivery so the handover is clear to both teams.

What are you working on?

A game to move forward.

Traverse Games / Studios and publishers

Talk about rendering and performance

A question worth exploring.

Traverse Research / Hardware and engine partners

Talk about a research partnership