Having grown from 25 to 85 employees over the last year, Scopely really needed to move out of its small Hollywood live-work spaces. Now fully moved into its new Culver City headquarters, Scopely is finally in an office that can handle the company’s ambitions.
Scopely has put six games in the top five ranking on the App Store since its founding in 2011, and this last September, closed an $8.5 million round of funding. That success has come by a decidedly Scopely style of game development.
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At the center of their Culver City offices is an open bullpen where everyone works, including CEO Walter Driver. This open space exemplifies Scopely’s flat management style and cooperative ethos. A company built around partnerships with outside game developers, Scopely thrives in collaborative environments.
Scopely has often been compared to a movie studio, searching out talent and a good idea, then backing that talent and idea with resources, expertise, and distribution. Andy Kleinman, chief business officer, does not disagree with these comparisons, although to be specific, he thinks HBO is more fitting to their business model.
Scopely doesn’t have subscribers like HBO, but it does have a strong connection to its users. Over time, Scopely has built on its success by creating a brand its audience respects.
“We are trying to get people to explore and connect with games based on: ‘these guys are good and we should give it a shot,’” said Kleinman.
Developing that type of credit in an industry known best for one-hit wonders like Angry Birds and Candy Crush does not come easy. The process starts freely: at the inception of a game, “there is not a super-structured process to it,” said Kleinman. “If there are more positives than negatives then we go-ahead with it.”
However, after the initial development phase finishes, the game is put through a gauntlet of tests. First, the game is played internally. (Scopely developers are also game lovers so they have no problem dogfooding their apps.) Next, the game is rolled out to trusted experts, who put the game through its paces. If it makes it beyond that stage, the game is also sent out to select existing users of other Scopely games. Finally, it is put into test markets that have “a very similar demographic to the US,” like New Zealand or Canada, said Kleinman. At any point in the process the game can be scrapped. In fact, Kleinman said “we do it often.”
If the game makes it through testing, it’s launched with full force.
“We believe in a ‘game day’ launch, kind of like a movie,” said Kleinman. “Everything is coordinated for one launch date because we can get a snowball effect.”
Scopely leverages relationships with its 25 million opt-in users, who ask to hear about new games, via in-app cross-promotions and emails. Reportedly, the conversion rate goes up with each new game launch.
“The challenge and the plan is to keep getting better,” said Kleinman. While Scopely is constantly measuring its progress against number goals displayed on flat screens around the office, there is more to the company’s success than statistics.
“It’s very metrics-driven, but not just metrics-driven; it’s very much about quality of products, that they are exciting and fun for people to work on,” said Kleinman.
Continuous improvement requires Scopely to be relentless and always on the lookout for better ideas, Kleinman said: “We have a couple of guys that are constantly meeting with developers. We’ve probably met with about 1,000 companies this year.” By constantly reaching out to these developers, Scopely holds open the door to possible future collaborations.
“Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in the short-term and underestimate what they can accomplish in the long-term,” said CEO Walter Driver to Fortune Magazine recently. Such a philosophy outlines Scopely’s success well: though the company is still young and has had rapid success, it takes no short cuts. Its deliberative approach does not expect Angry Birds or Candy Crush-type hits, and it doesn’t need to. Scopely’s App Store success in the last three years shows there can be another, perhaps better, definition of success.
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Scopely's famous oil paintings of its employees is pictured on the left. Scopely's fully stocked bar is picture on the right.
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