Online gaming company Kixeye is growing fast. The San Francisco-based company has 250 employees and is hiring new recruits at a rate of about 20 per month. They’ve taken that employee search to the internet, posting pictures like the one below, offering a whimsical online job application, and — best of all — releasing the funny recruitment video below.
The ad lambasts three competitors: Zynga, EA, and Kabam. It casts the viewer as a job interviewee at the three companies, experiencing an interview from hell at each company. They portray Zynga’s CEO Marc Pincus as a foulmouthed little kid, while EA’s CEO is waxing nostalgic about the old days and coughing out his dentures. Kabam’s CEO is portrayed as a monotone, buzzword-spewing hack who spins three wheels of cliche trends to determine their next game. “Oh look, Zombie Castle Rescue. Hardcore.”
Finally, the developer turns to Kixeye’s interview. “What is best in life?” the developer is asked. “Is it to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women? Well, that’s a pretty good start. But at Kixeye, we want more than that. We want to make games for gamers by gamers.” He then proceeds to give the most motivating speech a developer could ever possibly hear before putting on a unicorn mask and flying away in a helicopter. [Escapist Magazine]
Before you rush right out and apply, you should probably know Kixeye’s track record. They run three popular Facebook multiplayer strategy games: Backyard Monsters, Battle Pirates, and War Commander, expected to earn revenues exceeding $100 million this year. They have far fewer players than Zynga’s Farmville, Cityville, Muskratville, Eggsaladville, etc, but they generate 20 to 40 times as much revenue per player. They do this by focusing on making free games for the type of players who regularly buy in-game extras.
As Kixeye CEO Will Harbin tells FT, “[Zynga and Kixeye are] 100% polar opposites. Zynga definitely tries to dumb down the experience. Their motto is games that your grandmother would understand. We don’t want grandmothers or even mothers playing our games.” Fewer than 3% of Zynga’s players ever spend money in the game, so maybe he has a point.
The campaign has drawn the attention of at least one gaming genius. Markus Persson (@notch), the maker of Minecraft, tweeted:
brb, applying for a job at kixeye
— Markus Persson (@notch) July 31, 2012
Check out the Kixeye video (NSFW language) and poster below:
[Sources: Escapist Magazine, Financial Times, and @KIXEYE]