Years of turbulence have challenged—and defined—East Side Games.
The chief executive officer of ESG confessed in January that 2022 was a tough year for the mobile games industry, with his Deloitte Fast 500 firm still flying forward in the face of headwind.
Entering 2023 with momentum, the resilient studio has forged several partnerships this year, including collaborations with BBC Studios, Jazwares, and All Elite Wrestling.
Unfortunately, headwinds did eventually catch up with ESG’s flight: The 2023 TIA finalist endured a “strategic restructuring plan” over the summer, which saw the studio reduce its workforce by 20%, impacting more than two dozen employees.
The decision was “not made lightly,” CEO Jason Bailey stated at the time, but was a “necessary” move “crucial for the long-term success of ESG.”
The layoffs were not out of left field by any stretch, having followed a long year-plus of fat-trimming across tech around the globe.
Moving forward, Bailey and his team will leverage their deeply rooted culture—the firm was founded over a decade ago in 2011—to remain a consistent and venerable force in the mobile gaming scene.
ESG’s culture was recently recognized when Waterstone Human Capital this month unveiled the 2023 edition of its annual Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures—a national program highlighting best-in-class Canadian organizations and executives fostering high-performance corporate cultures.
“The 2023 Canada’s Most Admired award recipients exemplify how culture drives performance, especially in the face of economic uncertainty and other challenges,” stated Marty Parker, CEO of Waterstone and Chair of the Canada’s Most Admired program.
This sounds like ESG—and indeed, the company ranks among Canada’s most admired corporate cultures in the mid-market category.
“This year’s winning leaders and organizations actively craft culture in alignment with their purpose and values every day, and help drive culture as competitive advantage,” said Parker.
Other Vancouver corporations with admired cultures in 2023 include TIA winner STEMCELL Technologies, which recently celebrated 30 years of advancing biotechnology, and Pagefreezer, a finalist for Excellence in Company Culture.
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