ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Society as a whole is seeing a rise in gamification, and luckily for one Rochester business, that rise is fueling its growth.

Workinman Interactive is a full-service creative studio for cross-platform games and connected products. Workinman Interactive CEO Roy Contreras says the growing mobility of technology is also helping his business because different industries are looking to add new features to their existing platforms.

“We’re seeing a lot of institutions such as zoos, aquariums, and museums wanting to switch their customer base from just passively viewing or passive engagement to overall moving towards some interactive experiences. For example, we have a virtual aquarium at the Strong Museum of Play, where kids get to draw a fish, name the fish, and customize their fish by scanning it through a kiosk. And that fish would then appear on a screen and interact with the other fish in the aquarium itself,” Contreras said. “We’re seeing those institutions wanting to make sure that their customer base are able to engage with those exhibits as well. So they’re embracing digital. We’re also seeing companies like Amazon, finding new ways for folks to play. Traditionally, it’s been through console, or your phone or tablet, but there’s also voice gaming. So we’ve partnered up with Amazon and Paramount, for example, to create the Star Trek trivia that can be found on Amazon Alexa devices.”

Workinman Interactive doesn’t just service agencies in Rochester, they also service companies like Nickelodeon, Disney, Fisher Price, Marvel, SpongeBob Squarepants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, etc. Contreras explains a lot of the reason the company is still based in Rochester despite working with major corporations is because of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

“RIT has one of the premier gaming programs in the entire country. Our founder is actually a tenured professor at RIT and he knows the game’s ecosystem pretty well. And actually, a lot of our staff members started off as co-ops from RIT. And then they’ve been doing such a great job that we hire them as full-time when it comes to being artists, designers, and game developers. Additionally, the New York State digital games program provides a tax credit to help offset some of the ongoing production costs associated with creating games. So from a business perspective, it makes sense to keep doing games in New York State and right here in Rochester,” Contreras said.

If you’re interested in joining the Workinman Interactive team, positions are available including Games Project Manager, Senior Unreal Developer, Unreal Developer, and HTML-5 Developer.

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