Karma Gaming expands to Moncton, creating 26 jobs

A Halifax-based gaming company plans to expandintoMoncton, creatingup to 26 full-time jobs over the next three yearswith help from the New Brunswick government.

Karma Gaming International, which specializes in web-based products for the regulated lottery industry, will be opening a new development studio in the city, officials announced on Tuesday.

Invest NBwill providea payroll rebate of up to $350,000 over four yearsto support the positions, which will include game designers, programmers and HTML5 developers.

"Creating jobs that will provide opportunities for talented New Brunswickers to work here at home is the foundation of our plan to grow our communities, Premier David Alward said in a statement.

The investment will contribute an estimated $1.4 million to the province's gross domestic product annually, once all of the positions have been filled, government officials said.

Lotteries all over the world are looking to revitalize their product offerings and become relevant to a digital generation, said company CEO Paul LeBlanc.

We are focused on meeting the needs of this demographic. Having access to the tech community in Greater Moncton and an experienced workforce in the regulated lottery industry is a tremendous advantage to our company," he said.

Karma Gamingseems to be part of a growing trend in Moncton,said Nora Lacey, director of research and marketing for Invest NB.

"What we've seen over the last 12 to 18 months is a bit of a cluster in the gaming sector. Typically it's quality assurance and testing and that seems to be happening in the Moncton area,"Lacey told CBC News.

"We've had fourannouncements now with similar types of companies, all doing quality testing for gaming, video and lottery. And so it's certainly a sub-sector that we're interested in developing further."