Arkadium

Arkadium
IndustryMedia, video games
FoundedNew York, New York
United States in 2001
FoundersJessica Rovello (CEO)
Kenny Rosenblatt (President)
Headquarters
New York, New York
,
United States
ProductsOnline games
Number of employees
100
Websitewww.arkadium.com

Arkadium is a developer of casual web games, which are hosted on its own website, Arkadium.com, as well as across a network of digital publishers including USA Today and the Washington Post. The company is headquartered in New York City, with an additional office in Krasnodar, Russia.[1]

History

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Kenny Rosenblatt and Jessica Rovello founded Arkadium in 2001, inspired by a game of Ms. Pac-Man.[2][1] Arkadium developed the Microsoft Solitaire Collection in 2011 as well as the modern iteration of Minesweeper.[3]

In 2014, after the Russian annexation of Crimea, the US put sanctions on companies operating there. Arkadium had a 100-person team in Crimea, which was reduced to 50 and relocated from that region.[4]

In January 2017, the company announced it signed 300 new publishers in 2016 and saw record growth, and in 2019 announced a partnership with Sportradar to make it easy to bet on sports trivia questions to make web-based content more interactive and engaging for fans.[5][6]

In September 2018, Arkadium used its profits to buy out the investors, allowing the company to remain independent and grow on its own terms. CEO Jessica Rovello said she had no regrets about stepping off the venture-funded path.[7] Arkadium games were played 830 million times in 2018.[3]

Corporate affairs

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Leadership

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Arkadium is managed by CEO and Co-Founder Rosenblatt and President and Co-Founder Rovello.[8] Other key executives are:[9]

  • Tom Rassweiler, SVP Product
  • Greg Gallo, SVP Operations
  • Neal Sinno, Chief Partnership Officer
  • Vivian Lee, SVP People Innovation

Customer and revenue

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[10][11]

The company reaches over 500 million users each month[vague] across Windows, iOS, and Android.[12] Its games include the Microsoft Solitaire Collection which comes loaded on Windows 10, Windows 8, and mobile devices.[13] In March, 2017, the company released InHabit, which creates interactive visualizations called factives; these are automatically embedded into articles and are intended to increase session duration and user engagement.[14]

Awards

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Arkadium was named one of 14 New York Tech Companies to watch in 2016 by Forbes,[15] and 'Best Workplace' by Inc. Magazine in its 2016[16] and 2017 issues.[17] The company was named by Digiday as Employer of the Year, Tech platform category, in 2017,[18] Crain's 100 Best Places to Work in New York City in 2017,[19] and number 27 in AdAge's Best Places to Work in 2017.[20] In 2019, Arkadium was named 'Best Workplace by Inc. Magazine,[21] and the company's InHabit product, in conjunction with Spark Foundry and NBA, was named a Digiday Publishing Awards winner in the 'Best Custom Advertising' category for a 2018-19 NBA Tip Off campaign.[22] In 2020, the company was certified as a Great Place to Work, as well as won an award for Best Place to Work by the Business Intelligence Group.[23] In December 2019, Forbes featured Arkadium's HR and hiring practices.[24]

Developed video games

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Game Platform
Taptiles Windows 8.x, Windows 10, Android, iOS
Microsoft Solitaire Collection Windows 8.x, Windows Phone 8.x, Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile, Android, iOS
Microsoft Minesweeper Windows 8.x, Windows 10

References

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  1. ^ a b "This NYC Startup Has Been Entertaining America For Years…Have You Heard of Them?". AlleyWatch. 2016-06-30. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  2. ^ "Arkadium raises $5M for multiplatform casual games, leading with Windows 8 (exclusive)". VentureBeat. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  3. ^ a b Kaser, Rachel (2019-02-21). "Arkadium CEO Jessica Rovello on Solitaire's enduring appeal". The Next Web. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  4. ^ Stengel, Geri. "How Founders Take Back Their Companies Without Angering Investors". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  5. ^ "Arkadium Signs 300 New Publishers in 2016, Sees Record Growth". Arkadium. 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  6. ^ "Arkadium enables easier sports betting in deal with Sportradar". VentureBeat. 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  7. ^ Griffith, Erin (2019-01-11). "More Start-Ups Have an Unfamiliar Message for Venture Capitalists: Get Lost". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  8. ^ "Turning Passion Into Profits: From Playing Games to Playing for Profit". Entrepreneur. 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  9. ^ "Our Team". Arkadium. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  10. ^ "Betting on Ballmer, Arkadium readies four games for Windows 8". VentureBeat. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  11. ^ "How This Company Kept Morale High After Russia Annexed Its Crimean Office". Inc.com. 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  12. ^ "Arkadium Signs Hundreds of Publishing Partners". Arkadium. 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  13. ^ "Microsoft's Solitaire, the most boring game ever, tops 100 million users". VentureBeat. 2016-08-31. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  14. ^ Arkadium. Sports Illustrated Case Study. Cambridge: Cambridge Architectural Research, 1996. Arkadium, 18 January 2017. Web. 1 February 2017.
  15. ^ Reich, Dan. "14 New York Tech Companies To Watch In 2016". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  16. ^ "The 50 Best Places to Work in 2016". Inc.com. 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  17. ^ "Best Workplaces 2017". Inc.com. 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
  18. ^ "Carmichael Lynch and RPA are double winners in the Digiday WorkLife Awards - Digiday". Digiday. 2017-08-30. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  19. ^ "Introducing Crain's 100 Best Places to Work in New York City in 2017". Digiday. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
  20. ^ "Best Places to Work". AdAge. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  21. ^ "The 346 Best Places to Work in 2019". Inc. 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  22. ^ "Vox Media, CNN, Ellen Digital Network and more are this year's Digiday Publishing Awards winners". Digiday. 2019-09-12. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  23. ^ "BIG Best Places to Work".
  24. ^ Spiegelman, Paul. "How To Win The War For Talent". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
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