Portugal is still Miniclip’s biggest mobile game studio but it’s getting harder and harder to find talent – Negócios
In 2010 Miniclip opened a studio in Portugal with just 5 people that was focused on an area that was still promising, the development of games for mobile phones. Twelve years later, the company opened a new headquarters at TagusPark, in Oeiras, for 321 employees and with the capacity to grow.
Only the last three years the company of collaborators of this and for that the company is one step in the growth, and in the accounting within which it has new number of duplicates to give locations in Europe.
“Portugal was the first mobile studio, in 2010, and was key in the transition of Miniclip to this area”, explained to SAPO TEK Marius Manolache, COO of Miniclip in Portugal. The company started in the UK, first with web games, and has in recent years transitioned to mobile platforms, which are now dominant in the business.
The COO explains the concern that despite having to find talent in Portugal. Initially, in 2010, Portugal had great potential to find good talent in engineering and location, with the proximity of the Instituto Superior Técnico in Taguspark, it was an asset. Even so, it was difficult to find other people in other areas of mobility and Marius Manolache says it was necessary to train, training them to relocate them like other areas.
See images of Miniclip’s new headquarters
“Today it is more difficult to find people, we compete globally for talent […] the bigger the dimension [da empresa] yes, but there is also an opportunity to bring in from outside”, says the person responsible for operations in worse Portugal. A positive point is a good relationship with universities, with which Miniclip has partnerships, such as IST, Universidade Autónoma, Beira Interior and Universidade do Porto. “These are dedicated partnerships for both sides,” he explains.
The difficulty of recruiting can be one of the two fastest growing, and Marisache doesn’t want to risk three years even to two years. “We will continue to invest. We have confidence in the market and we want to continue investing here. I cannot say how much we will grow, but we want to grow more successful titles and we expect more successes”, highlights the head of operations.
The game 8 Ball Pool, which still started as a flash game, is the studio’s biggest success, and it was in Portugal that it made a move to mobile. “There are millions of people playing it every day”, explains Marius Manolache, stating that it is still the studio’s biggest game and that a large part of the team in Portugal remains focused on its development.
The company is looking into new areas, such as virtual reality, but remains focused on mobile. “We are where the users are”, defends the director of operations. To diversify the game titles, Miniclip has made acquisitions and continues to look for opportunities, which include finding the right studio or the right team to integrate, which can also happen in Portugal.
“We continue to observe trends, what comes next, and know that from the transition to mobile we may have to make another technology leap”, Marius Manolache.