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Keywords Studios reviews · checked 28 Oct 2026

Is Keywords Studios a good place to work?

Mostly. Keywords is a large, established employer that hires its Mexico City robot pilots on fixed-term contracts with statutory benefits, but staff rate its pay poorly and the robot work comes in short waves with no promise of more. The job is a fixed-term wave of about a month tied to a client's data needs, with no renewal promised, and Keywords has let testers go when a client contract ended (Edmonton, 2023). Most of each day is repetitive work in a VR headset.

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Keywords Studios, reviewed

Researched October 2026 · 16 sources

It pays Pay not published (stated by the employer).

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Who is behind it

Keywords Studios is a Dublin-based services group for the games industry (testing, localization, art, audio, player support), founded in 1998. EQT, with CPP Investments and Temasek, took it private for about £2.2 billion in October 2024; Bertrand Bodson has been CEO since 2021. It had 12,340 staff in 2023. Its AI Solutions unit sells training data, robotics data included, to AI labs. It runs two sites in Mexico City.

Getting paid

Robot pilots are employees on fixed-term contracts (one posting: the month of August, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm), paid a stated rate per full week plus performance pay and statutory benefits (prestaciones de ley). On Indeed Mexico, Keywords testers report about MXN 10,000 a month (2 reports).

Worker ratings

Glassdoor (Keywords Studios, all jobs worldwide) 3.4/5 (1,609 reviews) · Indeed Mexico (Keywords Studios) 3.1/5 (363 reviews) · Comparably (culture survey) 3.3/5 (63 employee ratings). Read October 2026.

Who can join

On-site at Keywords' office in Mexico City, Mexico. The robots are controlled remotely, but from that office, not from home.

What people praise

  • A tester on Glassdoor (December 2025, 4 stars) praised good team management and flexible hours, while noting low salary and few benefits.
  • On Indeed Mexico, a QA tester (May 2026) called Keywords a good first job, with room to improve training on new tools; a January 2026 reviewer cited a good atmosphere and a manageable workload.
  • The robot pilot posting offers scheduled breaks from the headset, a local team lead on site to fix hardware and connection problems, and statutory benefits rather than freelance terms.

What people complain about

  • Pay is the weakest score: Indeed's ratings for Keywords put pay and benefits at 1.9/5 and work-life balance at 2.9/5.
  • On Indeed Mexico, one reviewer called the pay very low next to competitors, with little training, and a January 2026 reviewer saw few chances to grow long term.
  • The robot job is most of the day in a Meta Quest headset on repetitive tasks, following strict workflows, with full attendance required each scheduled week. We found no worker reviews of this role yet.

What has gone wrong

  • April 2020. In April 2020 Keywords furloughed about 200 Dublin staff, mostly game testers, after Covid-19 rules closed its secure testing facilities; developers and support staff kept working from home. Most could claim Ireland's jobseeker's allowance while the company applied for the wage subsidy.
  • September 2023. Keywords laid off 13 unionized QA testers in Edmonton in September 2023, after BioWare declined to renew its contract. They had formed Canada's first video game union (UFCW Local 401) in 2022 and were still bargaining a first deal. The union filed an unfair labour practice complaint alleging surface bargaining, called the severance minimal and voted to strike. No ruling found.
Who it suits

Best for: People in Mexico City who can be at the office every weekday for a full wave, are comfortable in a VR headset for hours, and want short paid work with statutory benefits or a first step into robot data work. Not for: Anyone who needs steady income beyond a month or two, feels unwell after long stretches in VR, wants to work from home, or expects pay at the level of senior testing jobs.

Honest catches

  • Pay here is stated by the employer, not measured live from a job feed, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a guaranteed rate.
Sources for this review

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Keywords Studios has no public job board for us to measure, so everything in this review comes from the sources it cites.

Common questions about Keywords Studios

Is Keywords Studios a good place to work?

Mostly. Keywords is a large, established employer that hires its Mexico City robot pilots on fixed-term contracts with statutory benefits, but staff rate its pay poorly and the robot work comes in short waves with no promise of more. The job is a fixed-term wave of about a month tied to a client's data needs, with no renewal promised, and Keywords has let testers go when a client contract ended (Edmonton, 2023). Most of each day is repetitive work in a VR headset.

Is Keywords Studios legit?

Yes. Keywords Studios is a Dublin-based services group for the games industry (testing, localization, art, audio, player support), founded in 1998. EQT, with CPP Investments and Temasek, took it private for about £2.2 billion in October 2024; Bertrand Bodson has been CEO since 2021. It had 12,340 staff in 2023. Its AI Solutions unit sells training data, robotics data included, to AI labs. It runs two sites in Mexico City.

Does Keywords Studios pay?

Yes. Keywords Studios' own Workable board verified October 7, 2026. Payouts: Temporary contract. Payment terms are not published in the reviewed posting. Robot pilots are employees on fixed-term contracts (one posting: the month of August, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm), paid a stated rate per full week plus performance pay and statutory benefits (prestaciones de ley). On Indeed Mexico, Keywords testers report about MXN 10,000 a month (2 reports).

How do employees rate Keywords Studios?

Glassdoor (Keywords Studios, all jobs worldwide) 3.4/5 (1,609 reviews) · Indeed Mexico (Keywords Studios) 3.1/5 (363 reviews) · Comparably (culture survey) 3.3/5 (63 employee ratings), as read in October 2026. Praised: A tester on Glassdoor (December 2025, 4 stars) praised good team management and flexible hours, while noting low salary and few benefits. Criticised: Pay is the weakest score: Indeed's ratings for Keywords put pay and benefits at 1.9/5 and work-life balance at 2.9/5.

Has Keywords Studios had any problems or incidents?

April 2020: In April 2020 Keywords furloughed about 200 Dublin staff, mostly game testers, after Covid-19 rules closed its secure testing facilities; developers and support staff kept working from home. Most could claim Ireland's jobseeker's allowance while the company applied for the wage subsidy. September 2023: Keywords laid off 13 unionized QA testers in Edmonton in September 2023, after BioWare declined to renew its contract. They had formed Canada's first video game union (UFCW Local 401) in 2022 and were still bargaining a first deal. The union filed an unfair labour practice complaint alleging surface bargaining, called the severance minimal and voted to strike. No ruling found.

Who is Keywords Studios a good fit for?

A good fit: People in Mexico City who can be at the office every weekday for a full wave, are comfortable in a VR headset for hours, and want short paid work with statutory benefits or a first step into robot data work. A poor fit: Anyone who needs steady income beyond a month or two, feels unwell after long stretches in VR, wants to work from home, or expects pay at the level of senior testing jobs.

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