Hyper Hippo in Kelowna.
Image source: FACEBOOK / Hyper Hippo Entertainment
October 31, 2021 – 7:00 p.m.
A Kelowna-based gaming company has nearly doubled its workforce and many are opting for the big city lifestyle with new work-from-home models.
Kelowna has more than 200 animation, film, and digital media companies employing more than 2,450 people, according to Accelerate Okanagan.
Some of these are Sand Panda Studios and Hyper Hippo.
Jennifer Kilback, chief business officer at Hyper Hippo, said the company had nearly doubled since late last summer, growing from 60 to 110 employees. Hyper Hippo is a video game and software development company co-founded by Lance Merrifield of Club Penguin.
Merrifield is considered a business icon in Kelowna, and Club Penguin was once dubbed the largest social network for kids.
CONTINUE READING: Is Kelowna’s Club Penguin fairy tale over?
“We’re increasing our workforce at the Okanagan, but we’re also hiring people from outside the Okanagan,” said Kilback, adding that the majority of the workforce is still based in Kelowna, where the company was founded.
“The game industry is growing here at the Okanagan,” she said.
CONTINUE READING: Okanagan technology companies are committed to permanent home work
The first year of the pandemic was good for the gaming industry, and while those expectations have fallen for 2021-2022, it’s still a growing industry. Hiring remotely over the pandemic has opened up opportunities that previously existed but weren’t implemented, Kilback said.
Both Microsoft and Sony reported record growth numbers for their gaming revenue streams in 2020, and the console sector alone made more than $ 45 billion, according to Forbes.
“We got used to this dispersed workplace … We spent the time developing the ability to work this way and we really honed our onboarding process to attract new people,” said Kilback.
CONTINUE READING: Professional Kelowna video game player among the top earners in Canada
The gaming company is still actively recruiting at the Okanagan, but Vancouver is an attractive city, making it the second largest location for its team of around 30 employees. Greater Toronto is another popular destination and they have 17 employees there, including some in Montreal, she said.
Kilback believes that with remote working, the industry is reinventing where gaming hubs will be.
CONTINUE READING: Okanagan technology companies are committed to permanent home work
“There are certainly people who are drawn to our Okanagan lifestyle, but a lot of people still love the convenience of a large center and that’s what interests them about other options. If Hyper Hippo doesn’t work out, I can go across the street and find a job at another gaming company and we haven’t built this ecosystem here and based on our population it will take a while to get to that level the transferability in a role. ”
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News from © iNFOnews, 2021
