The video game industry has come a long way since early adopters rushed to play Pong at pinball arcades and boardwalks back in 1972. Recent projections point to the industry being worth as much as $300 billion by 2025. Big surges in cloud and mobile gaming have only added to the near-universal appeal of what, by any rights, ought to be known as America’s favorite pastime. For those looking to work in the gaming industry, these are the 20 companies from across the country to keep an eye on.
Location: Irvine, CA
Blizzard Entertainment is a developer and publisher of gaming software. After establishing the Blizzard Entertainment label in 1994, the company quickly became one of the most popular makers of computer games. Some of Blizzard’s games include World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft.
“The people make work enjoyable. Blizzard provides a LOT of nice things, but coming to work every day feels like hanging out with friends to make something amazing that fans will love and share with their friends too.”
Blizzard employees rated their overall company culture an A+.
Blizzard is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Redwood City, CA
Electronic Arts (EA) is a global interactive entertainment software company that delivers games, content, and online services for internet-connected consoles, personal computers, mobile phones, and tablets. The company develops and publishes video games for various platforms, including PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Phone.
EA is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Redmond, WA
Nintendo is a multinational consumer electronics company that develops game consoles. The company is engaged in developing, manufacturing, and distributing desktop and portable consoles and other related hardware and software components. It also offers entertainment products such as Family Computer (NES), Super Famicom (SNES), Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, and Wii U.
“I love my job and i couldn’t ask for a better experience.”
100% of Nintendo employees say their manager seems to care about them as a person.
Nintendo is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Bellevue, WA
Valve is an entertainment software and technology. Valve currently develops and maintains several video games including the Half-Life 2 series, Counter Strike Source, Day of Defeat Team Fortress 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. As well as it’s current projects, Valve has impressive back catalogue including Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Counter-Strike: Deleted Scenes, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress Classic, Deathmatch Classic, Opposing Force, Ricochet.
“Our leadership team is always checking in with us to see how we are doing on our projects. Positive reinforcement is plentiful.”
Valve employees rated their overall company culture an A+.
Valve is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: New York, NY
Rockstar Games is a multinational video game development and publishing company with a product portfolio that includes games such as Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A. Noire, The Warriors, Bully, Manhunt, Midnight Club, State of Emergency, and Red Dead. Rockstar Games has developed its own game engine called the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) to facilitate game development on the PlayStation, Xbox 360, Windows, Mac, and Wii systems.
“They really care about experience and passion in creating video games.”
Rockstar Games employees rated their overall company culture an A.
Rockstar is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
BioWare is a Canadian electronic entertainment company. It specializes in creating computer and console video games and has become famous for highly praised and successful computer role-playing games such as Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights, both of which won multiple awards.
Bioware is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: El Segundo, CA
Square Enix develops, publishes, and markets interactive entertainment titles worldwide. It publishes online games, mobile entertainment, music, and DVDs. The company’s products include Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Tomb Raider, Heroes & Generals, Deus Ex Human Revolution Director’s cut, Final Fantasy Original Soundtrack, SaGa Frontier Original Soundtrack, Xenogears Original Soundtrack, Chrono Trigger Original Soundtrack, and Space Invaders.
Square Enix is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Cary, N.C.
Epic Games is an American video game development company that creates games and offers its game engine technology to other developers. It is responsible for the Unreal, Gears of War, and Infinity Blade series of games.
Epic Games is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Burbank, CA
Insomniac Games is an independent video games developer that created the Ratchet & Clank and Resistance franchises.
“They show commitment and dedication.”
100% of Insomniac Games employees say they are satisfied with their benefits.
Insomniac Games is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Woodland Hills, CA
Infinity Ward is the original studio behind the Call of Duty franchise. The titles developed by Infinity Ward have won over 200 “Game of the Year” awards and 100 “Editor’s Choice” awards, among many other industry accolades.
Infinity Ward is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: San Francisco, CA
Zynga develops, markets, and operates social games as live services played on the Internet, social networking sites, and mobile platforms in the United States and internationally. It offers its online social games primarily under the Slots, Words With Friends, Zynga Poker, and FarmVille franchises.
“The leadership team has changed the game – they’ve built a competitive business that innovates while making sure the Zynga experience stays awesome!”
Zynga employees rated their overall company culture an A.
Zynga is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: El Segundo, CA
Nexon is an entertainment software developing company that creates free-to-play online games. Nexon is a pioneer in the world of interactive entertainment software. It introduced the world to the first graphic massively multiplayer online role-playing game, The Kingdom of the Winds, back in 1995. Since then, its become the industry leader in massively multiplayer online games, continuing to redefine the genre with each of their innovative titles.
Nexon is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: El Segundo, CA
Konami develops, publishes, markets, and distributes video game software products for stationary and portable consoles, and personal computers. It operates through four segments: digital entertainment, health and fitness, gaming and systems, and pachinko and pachinko slot machines.
Konami is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Rockville, MD
Bethesda Softworks develops and publishes video games for personal computers. It provides action, shooter, role-playing, sports and racing, and strategy games as well as gaming platforms.
“The team is great and they always make sure we have what we need to be the best we can so that we can produce the best games we can.”
100% of Bethesda employees say they are typically excited about going to work each day.
Bethesda is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Naughty Dog is a video game developer that produces games on PlayStation systems, including the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter franchises. The company sold its first game, Ski Crazed, to an independent publisher named Baudville for $250 dollars, which lead to a series of other games, including Keef the Thief for the Commodore Amiga, Rings of Power for the Sega Genesis, and Way of the Warrior for the 3DO.
Naughty Dog employees rated their overall company culture an A+.
Naughty Dog is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Culver City, CA
Scopely is a global interactive entertainment company and leading publisher of free-to-play mobile games. With a diverse portfolio of original and beloved franchises including the award-winning WWE Champions, Walking Dead: Road To Survival, YAHTZEE With Buddies and Wheel of Fortune: Free Play, Scopely games provide immersive experiences for millions of casual and core gamers around the globe.
“Constantly looking for new challenges and ways to improve. A great mix of veterans and newer industry folk.”
92% of Scopely employees say they are excited about going to work each day.
Scopely is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Irvine, CA
Obsidian Entertainment is one of the world’s leading developers of role-playing games. Obsidian’s past titles include Pillars of Eternity, Armored Warfare, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Fallout: New Vegas, Dungeon Siege 3, Alpha Protocol, Neverwinter Nights 2, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2.
Obsidian is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Niantic’s mission is to use emerging technology to enrich our experiences as human beings in the physical world. Its focused on building games that get people outside and exploring by enabling our players to have fun while visiting new places, learning about the world around them, and meeting new friends.
“This is the best tech job I’ve ever had. Challenging problems, collegial environment, good work/life balance, strong compensation, inspirational leadership, smart co-workers, opportunities for growth… it’s all there.”
90% of Niantic employee described their work environment as positive.
Niantic is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
Location: Seattle, WA
Big Fish Games is a game development studio and a game distribution platform for third party developers.After successfully transitioning from a PC-centric to a mobile-centric company, Big Fish has emerged as a top grossing mobile publisher worldwide with a portfolio that includes the #1 mobile social casino game, Big Fish Casino.
Big Fish is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
“Compassionate leadership team, motivated to deliver great products.”
100% of Big Fish Games employees say they look forward to interacting with their coworkers.
Location: Austin, TX
NCSOFT is an online, video, and mobile game development company that develops massively multiplayer games. It offers games such as Aion, which is supported by prominent titles such as City of Heroes and Guild Wars. NCsoft also produces casual online games such as shooter Point Blank and strategy game Murim Jekook.
NCSoft is Hiring! Check out jobs here.
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