Press Releases
Big Fish Games migrates to new HQ, with plans to reel in top talent with eye-catching space
Big Fish Games has a new headquarters to go along with its new leader.
The Seattle-based gaming company, which was acquired by Australia’s Aristocrat Technologies for $990 million earlier this year, moved into its new office in Seattle’s Pioneer Square this week. In the appropriately named Maritime building, Big Fish has leased all the office space — 187,000 square feet in total — with more than enough room to house its 633 Seattle employees plus the more than 100 open positions the company is advertising online.
The move is another sign of a new era for Big Fish. In 2014 it was acquired by Churchill Downs Inc., operator of the famous Kentucky Derby racetrack, for $885 million and sold again to Aristocrat earlier this year.
Just this month the company announced former Electronic Arts and Zynga executive Jeff Karp is joining Big Fish Games as managing director and president. He is taking the helm permanently after former CEO Paul Thelen left following the Aristocrat acquisition.
Aimee Paganini, lead senior game producer for Big Fish, has worked through all these changes. In her six years at the company she’s worked on several of Big Fish’s flagship games like Fairway Solitaire and Panda Pandamonium, and right now her latest game, Let’s Dish, is in Google’s open beta program. Paganini, who leads a team of 27 people, said not much has changed with her day-to-day operations despite the company shuffling between two parent companies in four years.
“I’m really fortunate that I have a boss and a general manager that allows our team to run as a small business,” Paganini said. “They’re the investors, so we need to make them happy.”
But the new headquarters will bring major changes for Paganini and everyone else at Big Fish. Employees felt like fishes out of water in the old HQ space at 333 Elliott West, which Big Fish steadily grew into over the years.
The company started looking for space two years ago, and at the time it surveyed employees to see what they wanted. The main gripe was lack of transit connections. The old office, which is just a few blocks down from where Expedia is setting up its Seattle HQ for a move next year, only has access to a couple of bus lines. Pioneer Square is the transit hub of the region, with hundreds of buses and a light rail line just a few blocks away, and plenty of access to restaurants and other attractions.
“We were out on a deserted island or at least peninsula on Elliott Avenue, so coming here it really opened up the ability for people to go out and experience the neighborhood,” said Evan Cottingham, director of real estate and facilities for Big Fish.
The old office was never a perfect fit for Big Fish, as the company gradually took on more and more space in the building from Classmates.com. Gaming companies have different needs than traditional office users — testing areas, big desks to spread out multiple devices and monitors, lots of collaboration spaces for meetings — and none of that really existed in Big Fish’s old space.
For Big Fish, the new digs will help with recruiting in the competitive gaming hub of Seattle that includes tech giants like Amazon and Microsoft and others prominent gaming powerhouses such as Valve and Bungie. Before, Cottingham said its interview rooms were “windowless dungeons,” and now they look out over the Puget Sound and Olympic Mountains.
Nearby spaces for human testers will have multiple cameras that track eye and hand movement of users when playing.
“Everyone assumes that a game company, a tech company, is a playground, but there’s a lot of work,” Cottingham said. “I can’t fathom how much Aimee and her team does to produce a game, so I need to design for all those ideas.”
Big Fish leased the building close to two years ago in a deal brokered by Seattle real estate company Clark Fadden and has been waiting for its new HQ since. During that time, the Maritime Building has undergone a complex and unique renovation. Crews dropped three additional stories on top of the 108-year-old structure to add to the office space.
Latest News
Bacta pledge support for Safer Gambling Week as industry drives awareness campaign
Bacta is at the forefront of initiatives to encourage responsible gambling with the leading trade association for the land-based low-stake sector joining the Betting and Gaming Council, the Lotteries Council and the Bingo Association as organisers and supporters of the 2024 edition of Safer Gambling Week (SGW) which runs 18th – 24th November.
With a core objective of encouraging people to talk and take action to gamble responsibly, the initiative which is running for its eighth year, will feature what the official SGW web site refers to as a ‘blitz’ of safer gambling messages online and in land-based venues in order to spark a nationwide conversation about responsible gambling and the safeguards that have been put in place by the regulated industry.
George McGregor Bacta’s Executive Director (Government Relations) believes the initiative continues to make a significant contribution to the industry’s endeavours to reduce further the incidence of problem gambling. He stated: “The first point to make is that Safer Gambling Week draws attention to what Bacta members are practicing every week and every day of the year. This commitment and culture is something that every Bacta member should be extremely proud of.
“The consumer-facing Safer Gambling website poses a series of questions to consider and outlines how to use safer gambling tools such as setting time and deposit limits and how to self-exclude from gambling.”
He added: “As an awareness raising initiative Safer Gambling Week has demonstrated its value. Safer Gambling Week 2023 smashed previous social media records, generating over 50 million impressions across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
“The website received half a million visits and the campaign engaged with a large number of cross-party MPs and peers who gave their backing as did Premier League clubs West Ham United and Brighton and Hove Albion.
“Safer Gambling Week demonstrates that Bacta, its members and the industry at large is fully committed to delivering a safe, responsible and enjoyable gambling entertainment experience for all of its customers.”
Financial reports
SharpLink Gaming Announces Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results
SharpLink Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBET) (“SharpLink” or the “Company”), an online performance-based marketing company serving the U.S. sports betting and iGaming industries, today announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Financial Highlights
- Revenues decreased 27.7% to $2,838,908 for the first nine months of 2024, compared to $3,925,618 for the same nine-month period in 2023. For the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, revenues declined 34.7% to $881,690 compared to $1,349,331, respectively.
- Total operating expenses declined 25.9% to $4,426,835 from $5,977,327 for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively; and total operating expenses dropped 46.0% to $970,080 from $1,795,057 for the three months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
- For the nine months ended September 30, 2024, net income climbed to $11,002,266 after factoring net income from discontinued operations of $14,567,733 – up 673.3% from a net loss of $9,114,443 inclusive of the net loss from discontinued operations of $2,523,754 posted for the comparable nine months in the prior year. After factoring a net loss from discontinued operations of $97,139, the net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2024 decreased 68.9% to $885,131 when compared to a net loss of $2,849,547 for the same three months ended September 30, 2023 after factoring a net loss from discontinued operations of $822,100.
- As of September 30, 2024, cash on hand was $1,850,206 and total stockholders’ equity was $2,020,143. This compared to $2,487,481 cash on hand and total stockholders’ deficit of $9,399,769 as of December 31, 2023.
Commenting on the results, SharpLink Chairman and CEO Rob Phythian said, “The notable decline in operating expenses reflects SharpLink’s continued focus on streamlining our affiliate marketing business; and the significant improvement in our bottom line results is largely a result of our $22.5 million cash sale of our SportsHub fantasy sports and sports game development businesses to RSports Interactive, Inc. earlier this year. Since that time, we have succeeded at scouring our balance sheet, eliminating virtually all of our debt, and have turned our attention to identifying, qualifying and pursuing compelling strategic growth opportunities that we believe can best be leveraged to create and enhance long-term sustainable value for our shareholders. As we progress through to the end of the year, we look forward to sharing much greater insight into our future plans for SharpLink resulting from the collective due diligence efforts of our leadership team and our highly engaged Board of Directors.”
For more detailed information about SharpLink’s Third Quarter 2024 financial results, please refer to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and accessible online at sec.gov or via SharpLink’s investor relations page at investors.sharplink.com/
About SharpLink Gaming, Inc.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, SharpLink is a trusted marketing partner to leading sportsbooks and online casino gaming operators worldwide. Through its iGaming affiliate marketing network, known as PAS.net, SharpLink focuses on driving qualified traffic and player acquisitions, retention and conversions to U.S. regulated and global iGaming operator partners worldwide. In fact, PAS.net won industry recognition as the European online gambling industry’s Top Affiliate Website and Top Affiliate Program for four consecutive years by both igamingbusiness.com and igamingaffiliate.com. SharpLink also owns and operates a portfolio of direct-to-player, state-specific, affiliate marketing websites designed to attract, acquire and drive local sports betting and online casino gaming traffic to its valued partners which are licensed to operate in each respective state. For more information, please visit sharplink.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Such statements include statements regarding the Company’s ability to grow its business through strategic growth opportunities, the potential benefits of the Company’s products, services and technologies and other statements that are not historical facts, including statements which may be accompanied by the words “intends,” “may,” “will,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “predicts,” “estimates,” “aims,” “believes,” “hopes,” “potential” or similar words. Actual results could differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements due to certain factors, including without limitation, the Company’s ability to achieve profitable operations, government regulation of online betting, customer acceptance of new products and services, the demand for its products and its customers’ economic condition, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the lengthy sales cycle, proprietary rights of the Company and its competitors, general economic conditions and other risk factors detailed in the Company’s annual report and other filings with the SEC. The Company does not undertake any responsibility to update the forward-looking statements in this release.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
INVESTOR AND MEDIA RELATIONS
[email protected]
Latest News
AGREEMENT BETWEEN ZITRO AND GRUPO OSGA TO PROMOTE THE LABOT INTEGRATION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Zitro, a leading company in the gaming industry, has signed a collaboration agreement with Grupo OSGA, a business group committed to promoting the employment of people with disabilities. Grupo OSGA offers job opportunities to people with disabilities and supports their professional development in inclusive and accessible environments.
Through this alliance, Grupo OSGA will provide Zitro with a parcel and documentation service between its offices, optimizing Zitro’s operational efficiency and strengthening its social commitment to creating a more inclusive work environment.
At Zitro, we firmly believe in the power of diversity as a driver of growth and development. This collaboration with Grupo OSGA not only enriches our company but also reinforces our commitment to contributing to a fairer and more inclusive society,” said Albert Zorrilla, Managing Director of Zitro for Spain.
“The collaboration with a prestigious international company like Zitro not only constitutes recognition of the work that Grupo OSGA has been carrying out but also contributes to the generation of real opportunities for people with disabilities to achieve effective and stable integration in the labor market,” said Oscar Galilea, President of Grupo Osga.
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