OUR CULTURE
OUR CULTURE
Our culture is one of our biggest strengths — something we protect, live by, and evolve together. The below Culture Memo captures how we work, lead, and collaborate at Salto. We wrote it as a team and revisit it each year. We’ve made it public to ensure we stay open and accountable.
Last updated April 2025
OUR VALUES
We want Salto to be a place where inspiring, brilliant creative people love working together. That means building a team that’s kind, curious, and high-performing; where everyone feels they can be themselves. That’s why we hire carefully — for chemistry, shared values, and strong bonds. It's not just about talent; it’s about accelerating decision-making, cutting turnover, and sparking innovation.
We’re doers, and we designed Salto for autonomy and speed. We trust each other to own the work, solve problems, and move things forward without needing layers of approval. That goes for everyone — from juniors to leadership. We avoid the “paper-pusher” trap and don’t default to escalation. We act like builders, because we are.
We believe honest feedback is our most valuable asset. We foster a "no bullshit" culture where everyone is encouraged to speak up — knowing that tough conversations make us better. Psychological safety is paramount, so we embrace vulnerability. And while critiques can be tough, they’re never personal — it’s all about challenging ideas, not individuals. We share our insights early and often, and we receive them with curiosity, not ego.
We are gamers at heart, and we want to make fun, successful, and high-quality games. But we are not a passion project company: we never lose sight of the players we serve. That means finding the right balance between gut feeling, player data and market insights. We have a bias towards grit and iteration, so we test often, learn fast, adapt quickly, and never settle for “good enough”
HOW WE LEAD
There are two ways to lead: with kindness or with fear. Both will deliver results, but only one is sustainable in the long run.
We act the way we want our best performers to act.
We work hard and get things done.
We're kind and respectful.
We show up for meetings on time.
We take breaks and advocate for work/life balance.
We support our talent through regular one-on-one meetings and performance reviews.
We are aware that consistent underperformance or inappropriate behaviour undermines team morale and motivation.
Crunch is a failure of planning, and we try our best to avoid it.
Delivery timelines sit with the people doing the work — because that’s where the best decisions get made.
We avoid unnecessary process and bloat, and we prioritise speed to market
Our work is outcome-driven, and we review progress every sprint to stay accountable to our commitments.
We aren't just people managers and actively contribute to the work.
We see ourselves as mini-consultants: helping, unblocking, and fixing issues when needed.
Think of captains on a sports team: leading from the pitch!
Needing to hire a large team just to operate is a red flag.
We maximise the time our teams have to focus on their tasks.
We minimise context switching by clustering our meetings together.
We keep meetings short and efficient.
We share plans, decisions, and insights openly and frequently.
We ask for input early enough to still make meaningful changes.
When in doubt, we talk. If doubt persists, we include more people.
HOW WE WORK
This is our culture in action — the habits, behaviours, and shared standards that shape how we work every day.
We consciously try to keep our team small so we can move fast and punch above our weight.
We hire carefully and look for self-starters who thrive in a lean, fast-moving environment.
Everyone is expected to contribute wherever they can. We’re T-shaped by nature, able to contribute across discipline boundaries.
When we're collaborating we make sure that all voices are heard, but when it’s decision time, it's the expert who makes the call.
We keep high-value tasks in-house, outsource where it makes sense, and invest in tech that amplifies our impact.
We mostly work remote and we embrace the focus and flexibility this brings. But we also believe there’s no substitute for being together in the same room.
We intentionally build in periods of face-to-face collaboration, a few times a month, to strengthen relationships, foster trust, and spark creative energy.
It’s not about desk time — it’s about alignment, connection, and working better together.
We also believe in-person time plays an important role in supporting long-term mental wellbeing.
We constantly share work in progress, invite feedback, and challenge ideas constructively.
Everyone is expected to give and receive feedback — and to do so with care. That means being specific, timely, constructive, and kind.
We give feedback to encourage growth and improvement, it should never be personal. Big egos have no place here.
Honest communication depends on psychological safety, so we work actively to create an environment where everyone feels safe in giving and receive feedback.
We test early, learn fast, and adapt based on what the data and our players are telling us.
We break down work into testable pieces — never committing to a giant feature with no idea if it’ll land.
We're lean—we cut the fluff, and move fast and make sure we're building things that will deliver value for the players and the business.
We blend cautious iteration with decisive action — radical change isn’t off the table, but it’s always intentional.
We take mental health seriously — and we’re open about when we’re tired, overwhelmed, or struggling.
We work hard, but we protect balance by prioritising rest and switching off at the end of the day.
Slack messages sent outside core hours are scheduled for the next working day to respect others’ downtime.
We understand that some people may want to do some work outside of core hours, but we don’t promote a culture where that’s expected.
We don’t buy into our own hype, and we have no time for toxic positivity. We value realism over spin.
We stay as close to our audience as possible and listen when something isn’t working. We don't shy away from negative feedback.
We believe transparency builds trust. Everyone at Salto has access to key metrics and context about how the business is doing.
Tough questions are always welcome. We’d rather confront problems early than paper over the cracks.
WHAT SALTO ISN'T
We’ve seen how studios lose their edge — not through bad intent, but by drifting from focus, players, and purpose. At Salto we want to stay sharp by being clear about what we’re not:
We’re not chasing hype trains.
We’re not building bloated teams.
We're not wasting money where it has no impact.
We're not wasting time in endless meetings.
We don’t confuse being busy with being effective.
We're not slow to ship.
We don’t hide from hard truths.
We don’t let great people burn out — or tune out.
We don’t believe in overpromising.
We don’t get swayed by noise or ego.
We don’t settle for tools or tech that slow us down.
We don’t bury or obfuscate the data.
We don’t stop listening to each other.
Staying true to our culture means protecting it!