One of my major client has actually hired several people out of their game. Specifically those with a level head, the right background, and a ton of experience with the product. The ironic reality is we have players of this game who have logged 1,000 hours+ - which means they know as much (or more) about the mechanics and systems than the programmers. It gives a lot of insight into changes to be made and usually they are hired as a starting level role (So far anyway) due to lack of industry experience... so in short they come on as a hybrid community manager meets design/balance consultant. True story... but this one client is the only one I can confirm has done this.

The requirements to make it are super high though, college degree, a super long history of playing the game, a super long history of absolutely ZERO confirmed reports of inappropreate behavior, passing several interviews, and so on.