Ashley Christman-Kaufman, training coordinator and educator with Square One Clubs, teaches Lean Six Sigma training and certification classes at the software and game development business incubator. PHOTO COURTESY OF SQUARE ONE CLUBS
for Facebook Games. This was a big deal, organizers say, because it was the first time someone from EA Capital Games came to an indie gaming event to share their wisdom.
STRATEGY GUIDE For local developers looking for a success strategy, EA Capital Games is a good place to start. A decade ago, the company was called KlickNation, founded by Mark Otero— a wunderkind of the Sacramento gaming scene who created " Superhero City " and " Age of Champions." When EA acquired the company in 2011, he became a tech millionaire.
Otero, who has since left the company, says the team he oversaw while running the company was comprised mostly of people with families in the region. He was impressed by the devotion of these developers, their willingness to power through even when it felt like " the building was on fire."
“ In the Bay Area, employees stick around their jobs for maybe 10 months,” he says.“ Here, attrition is very low. Talent is much less promiscuous and much more committed.”
But the region does have its limitations, he says, specifically the lack of a centralized hub, where various startups in close proximity can feed off of each other’ s ideas through competitive synergy and strategy.
“ Sacramento doesn’ t have a very dense, very deep game design culture; that’ s just a fact,” Otero says.“ A boom generally requires multiple studios operating near each other.”
When Rob Winkler launched 5th Planet Games in Roseville in 2009( it ' s since moved to Rocklin), he had no video game industry experience. But he knew he didn’ t want to copy juggernauts like Nintendo and Sony, which have specific ship-by dates tied to marketing plans. Instead, he set out to create an atmosphere that matches the vibe of Sacramento, which means no extreme overtime schedules. He doesn’ t know how many on his team could have survived for more than five years if the company had a heavy“ crunch-time mentality.”
“ Some would argue we could’ ve been more successful if we put in an extra 20 or 30 hours a week, but we’ ve had low turnover,” Winkler says.“ There’ s a lot of value in keeping people sane.”
For Winkler, who previously worked in banking and insurance / financial planning, success means creating games that make enough money to support the current state of the company and future growth. Of course, this can’ t happen without a strong team.
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