In the heart of Hanoi, Vietnam, Thunder Cloud Studio houses close to a hundred budding artists in its offices: offering a service to international clients in the form of 3D modelling, art, cinematics, animation, and more. Their work has earned them a Global Elite Partnership with gaming goliath Scopely. Also, it includes a portfolio of exciting AAA projects including work on the anime Invincible, WWE Champions, Warhammer 40K Tacticus, and Dreamwork’s IP How To Train Your Dragon Game: School of Dragons, and plenty of others.
Founded in 2013 by now husband and wife Dzung and Zoey, Thunder Cloud Studios conceptualise their culture by the values of the “Thunder”, and the “Cloud”.
Thunder:
Both founders are passionate in instilling strong foundations and processes into their work at Thunder Cloud. The mantra of “Be all in or get all out” was on a poster in their original office ten years ago, and still, they aim to over-deliver a “wow factor” at the bare minimum for their clients.
Cloud:
Zoey and Dzung both come from artistic roots and a passion for Manga, Dzung brings industry experience from Microsoft Rare (On Fable III) and Double Negative, where Zoey is company CEO dealing with the business side.
Their passion for Manga also inspired them to pursue Japanese “Shokunin” Mastery in their craftsmanship, and Dzung’s time at Double Negative with a German Team-Leader inspired him to adopt a similarly precise work discipline for his studio. So: Japanese Mastery, and German Discipline, that is the promise that Thunder Cloud give their partners.
Delivering Japanese Mastery, with German Discipline.
In the early days, around 2014, the team were able to manage their projects in a small “Family like” setting with about four employee’s total. Zoey and Dzung often did fifteen-hour days as a result, with Dzung – who is now removed from direct project work – being one of the main Artists working with clients.
Vietnam, at that time, was lacking an accessible talent pool for 3D Modelling and Artists, especially those within Game related projects. Thunder Cloud identified this issue as one that they could be part of the solution for. “It would be mutually beneficial for their future as a studio”, Zoey told me, “If they could help grow Vietnam’s talent pool and identity as a nation for Game-Art and 3D Modelling”. As a result, they began collaborating with local Universities – establishing academies, acting as judges on competitions, and giving lectures to aspiring students on the industry and discipline. Additionally, they do internal training for immediate needs but use collaboration with Universities for Long-Term growth plans.
They can now see the fruits of their labour ten years on. And, thanks to changes in education and the industry in general, the skill level of Vietnam’s art students and technologies are advancing rapidly. Thunder Cloud has been able to grow at equal speed: doubling their size on average every three years. They are now at around a hundred employees.
In order to take in so many fresh graduates from University Dzung and Zoey have had to implement an efficient training and development pipeline, it is one that promises to bring Artists up to speed within one to two years, and to work on various aspects of Art rather than being limited to a niche.
This promise from Thunder Cloud of mastery, dynamic working, and a job where Graduates can work on exciting international AAA projects does not come without a cost: they have to work. Thunder Cloud have an honest hiring process of warning fresh faces of the struggle they will be committing to, the reality, the thunder. Daily tasks have to be done before clocking out, late-comers are made to contribute money to a team-activity fund, and the office is incredibly quiet and laser-focused during the day. This is not only a result of a disciplined approach, but a “necessity” for Thunder Cloud to deliver to the demands of their clients. Remember: “Be all in or get all out”.
Thunder Cloud are still dealing with artists and creatives, so they recognise and see “Passion” as a fuel – an idea Dzung described – that in order to keep people from burning out, they need the ability to refuel their creative juices, as well as to make the fuel last longer. So, Thunder Cloud gives about 20% of worktime back to Artists to work on internal projects or pursue R&D efforts, allowing the continuation of mastery for their employees as well as allowing them to do something other than just client projects.
Rewarding Hard Work and Celebrating Success:
Previous to being CEO of Thunder Cloud Studios, Zoey worked in the luxury industries and had a history before that in events and PR. Some inspiration she took from working in high-end industries, like for Piaggio, was the massive no-costs-bared events and celebrations that she thought – at least locally – the Games industry was lacking. As a result, Thunder Cloud would host two massive events a year for its employees.
During the summer Zoey would organize a huge company trip for all employees, with management level being invited to bring partners and family, so that they can feel that the Studio itself is a second family. Last year for example they celebrated their “Tour de Color” which was described as “sizzling, bursting with colours, and full of incredibly slay moments”. The trip involved five teams with different colours taking part in competitions and fun to let loose.
The Studio also hosts their end of year party to pause and reflect on their achievements in the year, and monthly parties with pizza and soft drinks (The office doesn’t have many alcohol drinkers).
Periods of Struggle.
The consistent growth of Thunder Cloud has not been without difficulty. For example, Zoey shared with me one particular period of time in 2022 during the NFT boom which was massive in Vietnam. Due to all of the money being invested in the space, competitors were able to swoop up many of Thunder Cloud’s artists with sometimes as much as triple their salary. The timing was not convenient as Zoey was pregnant and had to take some time away from running the business for maternity.
This meant that Thunder Cloud, sometimes with up to 13 projects running at once, needed their leader Dzung to take over his wife’s duties too: and they needed the Management to step up to the increasing pressures of delivery. Dzung described himself as a “Shogun” who must command the battlefield, overseeing dozens of battles simultaneously. Therefore, those around him had to be his “Samurai”, and the attitude of the business became war-like, as he could no longer work on projects until their most critical moments. He needed his employees to “Fight the battles for him”. It might seem strange to imagine an office full of young artists being instilled with this battle-like motivation, but I suppose the revolutionary spirit of Vietnam carried through as they got out the other side without falling behind.
Exciting times ahead.
Now, with an increasingly difficult terrain in the Western Games Industry – with massive development costs, market adjustments, and layoffs, Zoey explained that they are seeing more of an influx of clients approaching them to outsource work. With a busy period ahead, Thunder Cloud are always cautious with what work they take on but have also invested in Dzung’s own dream to develop PC and later cross-console Games.
Lucid Realms is the name of Thunder Clouds new game development studio where Dzung is currently spending time as the main developer, although they are looking at hiring Unreal Engine programmers into the team. They have access to an incredible Studio of artists to support development, but they will not let it take focus away from their projects and clients, although the possibility of working on this internal project in downtime is an exciting prospect for many.
So, after ten years of victories in the face of pressure, Thunder Cloud have persisted through the storm to finally be hitting a level of mastery in their stride: able to juggle client projects at the same time as developing their own titles. They have lifted up Vietnam’s industry with them, and hope to one day see the country as the face of AAA Art.
Learn more about Thunder Cloud Studio here: https://thundercloud-studio.com/
Wow so great to read about Zoey and Dzhung’s journey! Can’t wait to see what they do next