2. Insomniac Games Inc.

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Insomniac Games Inc.


Burbank


Business:

Video game development


Founded:

1994


Local Employees:

145


It’s easy to understand why employees at Insomniac Games have high job satisfaction. The Burbank video game development company has a fun, laid-back culture, with perks a-plenty: a fully stocked kitchen from breakfast food to a soda wall stocked with dozens of soft drinks a masseuse who comes to the company headquarters every week, no dress code, company lunches on Fridays and company activities like trips to the movies.


Chief Executive Ted Price said the approach fits perfectly with the company’s product: developing fun-to-play video games.


“We are an independent company; we have a very independent spirit,” said Price. “Nobody is looking over anyone’s shoulder and saying this is how the game should look. We don’t have a rigid structure.”


Next month, Insomniac employees are headed on a company trip, but it’s not a seminar. They’re going race-car driving.


“We really make an effort to bust out of the office periodically and have a fun day, like a fun company field trip,” said Angela Baker, who works in Insomniac’s human resources department. “Sometimes it can be a fun challenge for us in HR how are we going to top that? What kind of fun, crazy, exciting things can we do next?”


There are also the more typical benefits, like a 401(k) with a matching company contribution, a full health plan with no deductible, vision and dental coverage, as well as four weeks of paid vacation a year.


Still, the company prides itself on demanding hard work. Insomniac is behind some of the best-selling video games for Sony’s PlayStation consoles, including the “Spyro the Dragon” and “Ratchet and Clank” franchises and “Resistance: Fall of Man” the launch title for the game platform that is still its top seller. The company’s games also routinely win video game industry “best of” awards in categories such as “game of the year,” best graphics and soundtrack and innovative design.


In its 14 years of existence, the company has never once missed a shipping deadline for any of its games, something that all of the company’s employees take pride in. Employees and management alike say that an atmosphere that fosters creativity is key: Workers are in large, open spaces, since Insomniac adheres to the belief that confining cubicles or offices stifles the creativity that’s paramount to the company’s business.


Price also said keeping the outfit free of “politics and bureaucratic crap” is a big part of employee satisfaction, and helps keep the emphasis on the games being developed, rather than corporate structure and policy.


“We really do everything we can to make sure people are appreciated,” he said. “Being independent and small also keeps us agile. Whether it’s a production problem or a change that needs to be made we can move quickly and keep the energy high here.”


The company’s size is a factor: Insomniac is holding steady at 155 employees, and isn’t in a hurry to expand, holding the belief that several high-quality games a year beats churning out products in vast quantity.


“Our success within the industry enables us to do this. We’re small but have sold more than 25 million games at this point,” Price said. “We can achieve success with that independent attitude. It’s been a great ride, and we hope things will continue that way. We want to ride off into the sunset having fun.”



Anne Riley-Katz

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