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Skill-based slot machine developer Synergy Blue said Thursday it had laid off much of its Las Vegas-based workforce and engaged Innovation Capital to explore “strategic alternatives” in the coming months.
Synergy Blue, which is majority-owned by Southern California’s Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians, did not say how many employees were affected by the layoffs. Synergy Blue ended 2020 with 46 employees companywide, up from 24 in 2018, and 32 in 2019.
The company blamed the reduction in staff on the nearly year-long business downturn in the gaming manufacturing sector caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the company said the demand for new games did not materialize last year. The pandemic forced the closures of commercial and tribal casinos nationwide for several months and reduced operation capacities to as much as 25% in most markets.
In January, Synergy Blue founder and CEO Georg Washington said he was stepping aside but didn’t give a reason. Synergy Blue was licensed in Nevada in 2019 and its arcade-style platform was approved by state gaming regulators last April following trials at two properties operated by Red Rock Resorts.
In a statement, Synergy Blue CEO Amanda Vance – who is also the current chairperson for the Augustine tribe – said the company spent the past year developing new games and operating with the hope that business would turn around.
“It has become painfully obvious to us that we face significant expense hurdles the longer we operate at full capacity,” Vance said. “Unfortunately, like so many other companies in our sector, we were forced to make the painful move of downsizing our operations in an effort to stretch our resources to be able to survive this situation.”
The company currently offers 26 game titles with gaming lab-approved games operating in several states and internationally.
Vance said Synergy Blue would continue to focus on its existing business and developing new strategies for the global gaming landscape while Innovation Capital explores alternatives.
The company did not say what those alternatives would entail.
Synergy Blue is the third skill-based slot machine developer to face adversity.
Last week, GameCo CEO Blaine Graboyes was denied a gaming license by the Nevada Gaming Commission was forced to leave the company. A replacement CEO is being sought.
In an email Wednesday, Gamblit Gaming CEO Eric Meyerhofer said the skill-based game developer was “focused on a pivot to online gaming” and spent 2020 preparing a pipeline of product that the company hopes to launch in various online markets in 2021.
“We believe retail gaming will be challenging for diversified products such as ours for the next several quarters, thus, to pivot to online,” Meyerhofer said. “When things return to normal in land-based casinos, we expect to push forward with alternative product as we were doing prior to the COVID shutdowns.”
Meyerhofer said Gamblit’s corporate office in Los Angeles is required to follow the “Safer From Home” mandate that requires remote work for non-essential office positions.
“Our offices are open, but only for essential manufacturing and logistics operations,” he said. “The remainder of our staff is working remote.”