Diversity — Our Recipe for Success
Last time, we’ve told you all about our Secret Sauce. This time in our Huuuge Principle countdown, we’re going to tell you all about the hot pot we add it into.
Ever since Huuuge started our aim was to go beyond Game-Lion’s framework and expand. Make us truly Huuuge. Back then, the name represented a dream. Now, we’re very proud to announce that our dream has become a reality. We are now 400 employees strong, in no small part thanks to our eighth principle — promoting diversity. In the past 2 years, we have expanded to the point where we have offices in 4 countries and people from 22 different nations making up our numbers. What we do next is that we play together and keep it Huuuge.
Being a part of the gaming industry for years has shown us that this business is mostly built on the backs of enlightened and innovative people and we know that if you want to lead such a group of talents you won’t go far if you create a hermetic environment and go the easy way — a my-way-or-the-highway. No wonder that according to IGDA reports, the bright future of game development depends on ‘more diversity in game content’ as a second most important driving factor (in-between ‘advancement of game design’ and ‘advancement of storytelling in games’). It should not be surprising then that on our mission to empower billions of people to play together our attitude is one that is harder to have — we actively look for diverse feedback so we attract & hire experts not only from a variety of places around the globe but also from various walks of life. We feel like our initiative to hire has given us a variety of insanely valuable perspectives which help us shift our products in new, exciting directions.
Product-related reasons aren’t the only ones for our pursuit of a diverse workplace. These different perspectives help us grow our Company Culture as a whole. Poland is not the most diverse country in the world, but what some would consider an issue, we consider an opportunity. In our Polish offices, introducing diversity to the workplace doesn’t just help the company grow, but helps Team Huuuge grow as people as they experience other cultures on a daily basis. In an industry that has had its fair share of scandals recently, teaching empathy and respect shouldn’t just be an offhand, canned response to criticism, but the very foundation of any company’s culture.
This is also why we are very proud that thanks to our continued efforts over the past year, we have managed to eclipse U.S. game development averages for our hired workforce, with 25% of our employees being women, 4% ahead of the latest industry estimates. It might seem like a small difference, but it’s a part of our larger effort to introduce the best specialists from diverse backgrounds.
These efforts have already shown a Huuuge impact on our product. Our Content — Slot Games team, made up of people from Poland, the United States, Israel, Canada and Ukraine, have managed to create our most successful Slot game ever — Huuuge Link. With 4–5 Slots released every month, the team is creating wonderful content with varied, beautiful themes. Making these awesome games would be impossible without the diversity of the team and the life experiences that made them who they are. If there’s a team that highlights the value of diversity, this one’s definitely the one.
The new themes, particularly the ones inspired by Asian culture have been a great way to start our foray into the ever-tough APAC market. Thanks to the hard work of our production team and APAC team lead by Andrew Wong from our recently-opened Hong Kong office, we have managed to become the first ever social casino game featured in the Asia Pacific region’s Google Play Store, an achievement we’re immensely proud of.
Our Marketing efforts have also been helped by our Director of Marketing — Yael Teboulle, who has not only helped us grow in unprecedented ways but was also featured in FB’s amazing Women in Gaming initiative, which aims to champion diversity in gaming and encourage more women to take up leadership positions.
All that would’ve been impossible without diversity. The key people in these successes came from different places, different cultures and different walks of life to combine and create a breakthrough moment for our company. Moments like that make us very proud and show us precisely why our 8th Principle is to Respect Diversity.
Want to join us on our mission to empower billions of people to play together? Check out our openings!
