An Iowa-based casino-style gaming company is betting big on Austin.
SciPlay, which has its corporate headquarters in Cedar Falls, Iowa, says it has hired more than 20 employees for its Austin office since the Covid-19 pandemic began. On Wednesday, it announced plans to hire 30 more by the end of the year. That would bring its local office to about 150 employees. Its global team is nearing 500 employees.
The new roles in Austin include software engineers, gameplay analysts, producers, game artists and product managers. They work on the company's growing catalog of mutli-platform games, which includes Jackpot Party Casino, Gold Fish Casino, Hot Shot Casino and Quick Hit Slots.
While the company has its local offices off U.S. 183 near McNeil Drive in North Austin, its staff continues to work from home because of the pandemic.
It conducts virtual interviews that include tests and game play with candidates. The company provides no-contact delivery of all the equipment employees will use on the job, as well as virtual on-boarding.
During the pandemic, the company has also focused on retaining and building its culture through virtual team meetings and other activities.
"It has been an absolute joy to watch our SciPlay family grow with the addition of dozens of our city's brightest and finest game developers," Karen LeBlanc, lead recruiter for SciPlay's Austin office, said in a release. "We are passionate about creating an inclusive culture that celebrates creativity, new ideas, innovative technology and our individual weirdness. Together, we will continue to create industry-leading games by collaboratively embracing each other's unique backgrounds and talents."
The company declined to provide a diversity and inclusion report that could indicate the diversity of its local or global workforce. Its website says "diversity is the key to a better future, and we put this statement to work by welcoming everyone and enjoying the different perspectives and experiences people have to share."
SciPlay, traded on the Nasdaq under the "SCPL" ticker, was previously part of global gaming company Scientific Games. It became independent in 2019, and last month it acquired Israel-based casual mobile game developer Come2Play. It opened its Austin office in 2016.
The company's second quarter financial report comes out later this week. Its first quarter results showed $118 million in Q1 revenue, which included a record-setting month of April as the pandemic set in.
The company reported monthly revenue per payer had increased 9 percent in Q1 to $83.58.
"We are incredibly fortunate that we've been growing consistently in the past year. Our highly digitized workforce allows SciPlay to work and recruit virtually with great success," Kimber Dall, SciPlay's VP of people operations, said in a release. "Our players need us more than ever, and we will continue to make every effort to provide them with everlasting entertainment during this difficult time."
