“ We all came here and took new roles or bigger roles than we ’ d ever had before . So it ’ s actually been nice for everybody to take up a new job and seize the moment and have the opportunity in front of them to build out teams , see how they manage , and give them some guidance .”
“ We all came here and took new roles or bigger roles than we ’ d ever had before . So it ’ s actually been nice for everybody to take up a new job and seize the moment and have the opportunity in front of them to build out teams , see how they manage , and give them some guidance .”
— Casey Whalen , Chief Commerical Officer , Bluberi
too emotional about it . Just letting the data speak for itself has been one thing that ’ s been great about being here .”
Of course , in hindsight , the bad examples can be easy to identify but the victories don ’ t always receive the same attention . Brennan notes examples such as VGT and WMS as companies that “ went from small players to massive ” and took advantage of their opportunities .
“ We wake up every day thinking about how we ’ re going to continue to build this business and make it successful for the long run ,” Burke says . “ We just don ’ t want to be a just a blip . We want to have sustainable growth , and part of that is having a roadmap and coming up with your recipe . But you have to visit the spots — in order to cook Italian , you have to visit Italy and see where it came from .”
With competition getting steeper each day , that studious mentality must also apply to current releases and trends . Brennan says it ’ s become a priority to “ play everything ” that comes out so they can “ bring the market back to our studios .” And like a meticulous DJ , he says this also applies to “ the deep cuts ,” not just the flashy hits .
“ There are a lot of things that we do in our company that I feel are simple things to do right ,” adds Burke . “ Go play every game . Read every report that comes out on the industry . I listen to all the earnings calls from all the publicly traded companies in the space . Those are actually very simple things to do , but they take time . They take commitment and they take dedication and I think that ’ s a really big thing for us .”
PLANTING THE BLUBERI SEEDS
In the last two years , Bluberi has grown its physical footprint like never before . It started with a new game studio in Reno , Nevada in 2022 , followed by a studio in Moncton , New Brunswick in 2023 . After that , the company debuted an Austin , Texas outlet in April 2024 . Then in May , Burke and team opened — or unlocked , as in the Devil ’ s Lock theme — a new 85,000-squarefoot Las Vegas headquarters . And if all that wasn ’ t enough , the tour concluded in August with a new downtown office in Drummondville , where it all began .
It ’ s a difficult job to scale at a breakneck pace while also trying to foster the same grass-roots , underdog culture that sparked the growth in the first place . But there ’ s also a level of intrigue that great facilities can create , and eventually new talent starts to seek out that culture rather than the other way around .
“ We ’ ve got plenty of room for manufacturing for the next several years to come ,” Burke says . “ It ’ s really just meant the world to our team . I think it ’ s essential to have a place that you can come and be proud of . You want to be here , the energy and the building is really exciting . There ’ s a ton of energy , and so to me , that ’ s really what it ’ s about .”
Into 2025 and beyond , each facet of the company will have new objectives and new goals if it wishes to continue its meteoric run . For Brennan on the product side , it ’ s all about notching another hit game to build off of the lasting hype of Devil ’ s Lock .
Using sports as an analogy , he notes that “ any team can stumble into winning the division ,” but repeating is difficult , and the pressure really hits once you ’ ve done it once before .
“ Can we sustain it , can we do it with a whole other pile of ingredients ? Can we increase our quality while we increase our quantity ? That is where I think it shows that our process , our recipe is working , that our leaders ’ style of leading is working , that the whole messy experiment of us coming together from all these different companies to join a Quebec-based group that has amazing skills and technology and passion ,” Brennan posits .
In order to fulfill the orders and deliver on expectations , everyone will have to get along , and Whalen predicts that the foundation of good habits set in past years will serve the company well as it faces new challenges ahead . That way , it can “ continue to be one of the top suppliers for our ship share ” while also further preparing it for the next challenges .
“ I really feel like the alignment between product management and sales and how we ’ re going about into these new jurisdictions , the way we ’ ve finetuned the team , how we ’ re managing our data , those are the sorts of things that I believe a year from today I feel really good about more so than ever , that I know I ’ ll be really proud about when people look at us and say , ‘ I always need more Bluberi games ,’” he says .
From Burke ’ s perspective , perhaps the biggest challenge will be to differentiate between the work and the job . The work , make no mistake , is hard — but the job can still be enjoyable , and honesty is a big part of that dynamic . “ Some companies are super honest , like if you go work at Goldman Sachs , they know and you know that job sucks ,” he jokes . “ But they ’ re honest about that . Some places are like , ‘ This is an amazing place to work !’ and you get there and you realize that they don ’ t care about that .”
The first-time CEO , like many of his colleagues , is making a go of it and figuring things out on the biggest stage , and so far , that stage has felt like home . From the scenic hills of eastern Canada to Las Vegas , the company and its one-of-one aesthetic has turned heads and made its presence felt — the only thing to do now is continue the momentum . As it turns out , blueberries can grow in a variety of climates .
“ My job in particular is to ensure that you know that for most people this is the best job they ’ ve ever had ,” Burke says . “ But it ’ s also the hardest job they ’ ve ever had , and those things can both be true . We make games for a living , right ?”
24 Global Gaming Business OCTOBER 2024