Simutronics to expand in St. Charles, doubling staff

// February 10, 2008

Simutronics Corp., a developer of massively multiplayer online game technology and titles, will move approximately 45 employees and its operations over the summer into a new 26,000-square-foot building being built in St. Charles, Mo.

Though it is incorporated in Virginia, privately-held Simutronics has about 45 of its 50 employees, including CEO David Whatley, in St. Charles.

Company spokesman Neil Harris said the company is moving out of its 10,000-square-foot facility at 1500 Wall St. to the 370 Corporate Center Office Park building also in St. Charles to accommodate the Simutronics development studio.

"The main constraint is we can't fit more people in the building," Harris said.

He added the company plans to hire 50 more people by the end of the year, including developers/programmers and 3-D artists, bringing the number of local employees to around 100. The company was founded in St. Charles in 1987 and
had four employees at the time.

SS&D Properties LLC is building the studio and the company expects to move into its new space in late summer 2008. Simutronics' expansion is being driven by the growth of HeroEngine, its development platform for massively multiplayer online (MMO) games and virtual worlds. Today MMO games are one of the fastest growing segments of the video
game market bringing in billions of dollars in global revenue, according to a release. According to DFC Intelligence, by 2011 global revenue from online games may reach $13 billion per year.

Simutronics also announced it hired Phil Salopek as chief financial officer.

Salopek previously served as CFO of Gaithersburg, Md.-based BroadSoft Inc. He will remain in Gaithersburg at a Simutronics' office located there.