More than 80 percent of employees encouraged to work fully remote, from most US or UK cities
Hi-Rez Studios announced a remote work policy today, allowing creative game industry professionals to work wherever they feel most productive.
The new Creativity Unchained program allows and encourages over 80 percent of Hi-Rez Studios employees to work remotely in a collaborative, creative environment. Employees can work from most locations in the USA or UK, with work being done to expand the program across Europe.
The Creativity Unchained program formalizes proprietary work processes developed at Hi-Rez Studios during the pandemic, which led to a surge in both employee satisfaction and company revenues.
“The pandemic has taught us new ways to work that we believe are superior to our previous way of operation,” said Stewart Chisam, CEO of Hi-Rez Studios. “This is a talent-based business, and we want to meet the best talent where they are as we build a culture of freedom and responsibility for our creative staff so we can achieve victory, together.”
The program extends to both high-performing, existing Hi-Rez Studios employees and new job openings. Most jobs will allow fully flexible work options, letting most employees decide their work location and mix of office to remote hours.
Hi-Rez Studios will retain a main US office in Alpharetta, Ga. and a UK office in Brighton, England for employees who prefer to work in an office setting. Both offices will be retrofitted for the Creativity Unchained work approach, optimizing for maximum employee and team flexibility. The company is rethinking its approach to meetings and culture building with an office footprint that better accommodates in-person programs and social events even for remote employees.
“We want to offer employees a great balance between work and life, while also offering the best opportunities to create great games with amazing people, sharing their creative work with tens of millions of players across the globe,” Chisam said. “Our games are global, and we should be as well.”
Hi-Rez Studios is the Atlanta-based multi-platform video-game publisher and developer of SMITE, Paladins, Realm Royale, and Rogue Company, with 435 employees across the globe. Well over 100 million people have played Hi-Rez games on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. Hi-Rez Studios operates five game development studios in the US and UK: Titan Forge Games, Evil Mojo Games, Red Beard Games, First Watch Games, and Alacrity Arthouse.
