Industry News & Events
Clipwire Games is best known for its global phenomenon, Bingo Story, a bingo game with a fairytale twist. The fast-growing company is based in Toronto, with a second new office set to open in Montreal. Clipwire was recently recognized as Canada’s Best Workplaces 2021 from The Globe and Mail.
Despite this remote time, the studio is growing quickly and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Chelsea Armitage, leads the recruiting efforts for Clipwire during this exciting, high-growth period.
To better understand what makes Clipwire Games one of Canada’s top gaming studios, we spoke with Chelsea to find out what makes their culture so unique, what the onboarding process is like, and why Clipwire Games is a dream company to work for.
Before the lockdowns, the team at Clipwire had a robust onboarding process in place, since many team members were already fully remote. A part of onboarding includes ongoing training and support with materials specific to each job.
They also implement a buddy system for new hires, which helps new employees get questions answered and get a feel for what the culture is like.
Chelsea explained, “Because of this, it wasn’t very difficult to continue hiring new talent and grow. We’ve already added 10 people to our team of 34 during the pandemic!”
Not being in the same physical location means communication is extremely important. “We keep close to our communication tools, like Slack and video conferencing.”
Keeping a balanced approach of communication and connection around work and personal life is important to the culture and team. Chelsea added, “We have a lot of non-professional events, such as virtual team dinners and game nights to make the days more fun and keep employees engaged.”
When asked about the best thing about working at Clipwire, Chelsea said, “It’s definitely our people and culture. Our CEO, Ritesh Khanna, has an open-door policy. If you have an idea you think is good, we take it into consideration. At Clipwire, we believe there’s always room for innovation and we’re super open to new ideas. We’re at the sweet spot in a company where it’s still an intimate environment and everyone can collaborate.”
She added, “Our edge is the size of our company. The team is small but mighty. Employees’ voices are heard, they have access to our CEO, and if you have a solid idea to bring to the table, it will be heard.”
Since culture is all about the people, Clipwire sets a high bar when it comes to finding the right talent. They specifically look for sharp, growth-minded individuals who thrive in a creative environment. “We want people who are passionate about learning and want to maximize the potential of their ideas.”
Chelsea believes high growth extends beyond recruiting. Clipwire focuses on retaining their employees by ensuring they have a roadmap for career development within the organization.
“We place importance on employees’ long-term career goals. If someone wants to pursue something relevant to their career, we will help fund training resources. Also, if someone wants to pivot to another discipline, we will consider it if the person is motivated, engaged, and has potential. This also helps us stay competitive in our industry.”
Clipwire will continue to usher in new titles and add engaging features in their existing games. Earlier this year, for example, Bingo Story successfully partnered with The Price Is Right to license its IP into their game.
Chelsea believes the company offers the best of both worlds to their employees, because they’re consistently growing as their games continue to climb the charts, and because of that, they’re a stable company.
Learn more about Clipwire’s open job opportunities at clipwiregames.com/careers.
