One of the most common (and hotly contested) claims is that Boston doesn’t do consumer tech, or, at least, doesn't do it very well. But in the heart of The Hub lies a gaming company that’s dead set on proving otherwise.
Founded in 1999, GSN Games powers GSN Casino, a top 10 grossing iPad app of 2013 and 2014; Bingo Bash, another top 10 grossing iPad app; and the new GSN Grand Casino, which is currently ranked as the No. 1 free casino game, No. 2 free game, No. 3 free iPad game and No. 14 free app overall in the App Store. The company—a privately-held subsidiary of the Game Show Network, which is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and DIRECTV—is the No. 4 largest social casino publisher worldwide, but despite its success, hasn’t quite become a household name in the Boston tech community.
Still, the mobile app developer/publisher has been growing—quietly, but aggressively. In 2012, GSN Games had 150 employees total between Waltham and San Francisco. Over the past two years, the U.S. based team has more than doubled, and the local office in particular has grown 28 percent.
Today, GSN Games has more than 400 in nine offices worldwide. Last year, the firm acquired Bash Gaming, creator of the hit social bingo game Bingo Bash, which added more than 150 employees and two new offices to the organization. And back in March, GSN snatched up social casino game developer Idle Gaming (best known for their app Fresh Deck Poker). There are currently 100 open jobs across all nine offices, 19 of which are local. The headcount in Boston is 135, but that number will keep surging over the year ahead. And luckily, the company has more than enough room for all the planned hires: Back in November, GSN Games moved from Waltham into the city, and its newly renovated 7,800 square-foot space in the Financial District can accommodate up to 240 staff members.
VP of Human Resources Karen Lalley, who has been with the company for over seven years, told BostInno that the firm is hiring across all departments, but the bulk of the need is concentrated in mobile space, with the majority of the top priority open positions being engineers, data engineers, UI and UX.
“When I first started there were 55 or 60 people here in the Waltham office, now we have hundreds in nine offices, and are continuing to grow,” she explained, adding:
With that growth, we’ve seen a change in culture. When I came on, there was very much a startup mentality, which I think still exists. But now it’s more of a unique hybrid, because we also have strong financial backing, adding the stability factor. That allows us to be creative and take chances, but at the same time, no one has to worry when the next round of funding is going to come or the next paycheck.
Lalley says that the employees there share several key traits: they’re nerdy— "in the positive sense of the word”– have a lot of energy and are constantly challenge the status quo.
Also, it’s a gaming company—so a competitive spirit is a given. GSN Games encourages this by hosting hackathons a few times a year for employees to work on side projects they’re passionate about. The firm’s Kegatron—an arcade-style game with a keg built into it—is the result of one of these events.
Outside of those, GSN Games also continually holds a number of other internal competitions, some revolving around new games and others around old-school classics. Any time there’s a new release, the team will have a happy hour celebration. Lalley says she’s also trying to get a volunteering program up and running for staff.
"There are definitely some pockets of unknown talent tech talent in Boston...Plus, I think the market is slightly easier to tap into."[/pullquote]
Even as GSN Games has been expanding to eight other cities, Lalley stressed that there’s a key advantage to having a presence in The Hub.
“There are definitely some pockets of unknown talent tech talent in Boston” she added, citing the video game dev community Boston Port Mortem as one example. “Plus, I think the market is slightly easier to tap into. We don’t have a ton of competitors here in the gaming space.”
Just as important—if not more so—than attracting talent is retaining it. This is particularly true when developers and engineers are in ultra high demand. Which is why Lalley noted the company is laser focused on making sure employees stay happy, engaged, motivated, supported.
“We always have our finger on the pulse of what people are looking for,” Lalley said, “and we’re always looking for new tools that can be given to managers to keep them happy. We conduct regular engagement surveys to find out what programs and extras might be introduced that will resonate with employees.”
Lalley admitted that the recent move into the city wasn’t entirely smooth sailing, calling it a “tough transition” for some. But it’s a move that the company felt was necessary to attract up-and-coming talent that may not have been willing to trek out to the ‘burbs.
“It did have some bumps,” she added, “but now that we’re settled in, we’re really ready to ramp up hiring.”
All photos provided by GSN Games.