It is hard to find someone who does not like gaming and over the years, it has become one of the most popular forms of entertainment, especially for young adults. The gaming community stretches all over the world and to meet the continuous demand several gaming hubs are created which consist of several companies that focus on perfecting the art of game making. But the San Francisco bay area gaming hub is firmly at the forefront of creating some of the most iconic AAA titles to date. It’s no coincidence that games like Grand Theft Auto, Fifa, Minecraft, and Sims were all created here, and in this blog today, we will rank the 10 best gaming companies in the bay area. We will also include the current status of their hiring process so if you are a candidate looking for a job or a sourcer helping your clients find their dream job, this list will be a perfect fit for you.
Also read: How to become a good Technical Sourcer?
Top 10 Gaming companies in the bay area:
Unity
Employee Size: 7500 – 8000
Unity is a game company that develops complex game engines that facilitates other game manufacturers to use Unity’s service to build their own games. Unity was formed in 2004 and is currently headquartered in the Bay area. Unity has pioneered the real-time 3D and 2D gaming industry and helped develop many AAA titles like the Cities skyline and Pokemon Go. But apart from developing a game engine, Unity also focuses on game design, data, analytics, finance, marketing, and communications. They are actively seeking candidates for various roles and offer numerous employee benefits as stated on their website. You can learn more about open positions by clicking here.
Niantic
Employee Size: 800 – 1000
Many argue that augmented reality is the future of gaming with new innovations being constantly introduced in recent times. Niantic is a gaming company in the bay area that harnesses the power of augmented reality to create realistic games that can interact with our physical world. The biggest games released by Niantic include Pokemon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, both of which have won numerous awards and appreciation from the gaming community. With an employee size of around 1000, Niantic is constantly looking for new talents to join its team. Currently, they have several open positions including game design, brand partnerships specialist, marketing, operations, and more. You can learn more about Niantic’s current open positions by clicking here.
Discord
Employee Size: 700 – 750
Discord is not directly a gaming company, but a tool that is used by gamers all over the world to quickly communicate with one another via voice, video, and text. Discord was initially founded in 2012, but the company slowly evolved into a full-fledged communication tool and currently has over 150 million active users every month. Discord offers several employment opportunities for candidates in design, customer experience, data science, marketing, business development, and more.
EA sports
Employee Size: 12000 – 12500
Electronics Art (EA Sports) is without a doubt one of the biggest gaming companies in the world and they have their headquarters just 30 mins away from the bay area. Yes, technically, the office falls in Redwood City, but we choose to include it in our list given the massive presence the company has in the surrounding area. EA sports is massive and has created several successful franchises that include FIFA, Need for Seed, NBA, and more. The company has over 13.000 employees and is constantly hiring in different technical and non-technical positions.
Crunchyroll
Employee Size: 1400 – 1500
Anime-based mobile games have recently gained traction and become insanely popular with titles like Genshin Impact reaching 50 million downloads in a very short span of time. Crunchyroll is one of the gaming companies that pioneered Anime-based mobile gaming and has several offices in Tokyo, Lausanne, Paris, Berlin, and of course the bay area. Apart from the gaming division, Crunchyroll also has business development and content operations which make up a significant part of the revenue Crunchyroll generates. So, check out their current openings and see if you can help the company find the right talent.
Glu Mobile
Employee Size: 700 – 800
A vast majority of gamers prefer to use their phone to play games during their free time. This casual form of gaming created a new branch of free-to-play games which Glu Mobile specializes in. Glu Mobile was founded in 2001 and currently focuses on creating IP games such as GUN BROS, DEER HUNTER, SAMURAI VS. ZOMBIES DEFENSE, and more. Glu Mobile currently has an employee size of around 1000 people and is constantly growing as they are branching out into different genres. You can find out more about their current positions by clicking here.
Supergiant Games
Employee Size: 20 – 50
Founded in 2009, Supergiant Games is a growing company that made headlines with its award-winning Hades franchise. Supergiant Games is a small company when compared with some of the others on the list and only has a handful of games to showcase. However, Supergiants games market itself as a small company with big ambitions which is rightfully reflected in its LinkedIn page which shows several open positions. Supergiant games are also looking for several UI Illustrators for the Hades II game so if you are a sourcer and can recommend UI Illustrator, do check out their website.
Skillz
Employee Size: 250 – 350
Skillz is a mobile gaming company in the bay area that primarily focuses on creating cash tournament platforms that help both game developers and players incentivize the time they spend playing the game. Skillz was formed in 2012 with a very small team of just 11 employees, but over time have matured into a medium-sized company with an employee size of around 50 – 100 people. Skillz is also not just a game company as there are many aspects of data analysis that the company specializes in which makes it also a data analytics company. At the time of writing, Skillz has several open positions in both data analytics and game design and development.
Twitch
Employee Size: 1000 – 5000
Although Twitch is not directly a gaming company, it has significant influence over the gaming community to put it on our list. Twitch was formed in 2011 to help facilitate live video game streaming. It offers several tools that help gamers and content creators to share their gaming sessions with the public and has quickly become the default platform for all gamers. Twitch allegedly made a whopping $2.6 billion in 2021 making it one of the most successful companies in the gaming community. The sheer size of Twitch makes it a big attraction for developers all around the world. You can learn more about new positions by clicking here.
Zynga
Employee Size: 2900 – 3000
Founded in 2007, Zynga is one of the first companies that integrated gaming with social media to release their most popular game Cityville. This game was so successful that at its peak it reached 100 million monthly active users on Facebook. However, it was replaced with Cityville 2 which did not have the same success as its predecessor. Currently, Zynga focuses on freemium-based games which are free to play with an option for users to spend money to buy real-life items. Their best seller is Farmville 3 which is a personal favorite game of mine. Although Zynga is no longer the company it once was, it still has a respectable employee size with new positions being opened all the time. They currently have an opening in Game design, development, and analytics roles so do check them out.
Some Final Words
Creating this list brought back so many memories of gaming companies that shaped the industry. It is no coincidence that many of the biggest gaming companies all have their offices near the bay area. There is something special about the Bay area that attracts talent from around the world. We hope this list helped you understand the dynamics of the gaming industry in the bay area and for more posts like this, do not forget to check out our other articles.
