It's not just mobile developers and publishers that base themselves in San Francisco.
Chartboost - one of the world's most successful app discovery platforms also set up shop in the city by the bay, standing side by side with many of the thousands of developers that tap into its API-based advertising and promotion service.
The role of Chartboost, of course, is to help developers find an audience in the mobile market, which has fast become one of the most competitive sectors in the games industry.
Indeed, it's a level of competitiveness mirrored within San Francisco itself, with developers having already told us that the rivalry to snap up the city's talent is fierce.
So, for better or for worse, what makes the area such a hub for creatives and big business alike?
"Silicon Valley makes people think big," says Chartboost CEO Maria Alegre.
"It inspires world changers. And once inspired, they are surrounded by amazing talent, advice and money of like-minded people that think big and want to change the world.
"I learned about Silicon Valley listening the Stanford iTunes University podcasts and decided to move here after graduating and embed myself in the ecosystem. While I love my hometown of Barcelona, starting Chartboost in San Francisco was a no-brainer for me and Sean [Fannan]."
Zero to one
Like the other Bay Area business owners we have spoken to in recent weeks, Alegre believes that the culture and surroundings of the region's technology industries is what attracts so many gaming entrepreneurs to get started here.
However, she also argues that simply getting your idea off the ground is still much more difficult than turning it into a financial success.
"The hardest part of starting something is taking it from zero to one, not from one to one million," she says.
"Entrepreneurs can have the 'think big' mentality anywhere but, often, they come to Silicon Valley to learn it or to find a team that thinks like them. This is why there are so many startups in general and game studios in particular in San Francisco."
Maria Alegre
Despite her determination to locate in San Francisco, Alegre argues that location is not as big a factor for a games or technology business as many believe, if only because the marketplace is a truly global one.
San Francisco is simply the window through which Chartboost views the market one that compliments rather than dominates the firm's operations.
Indeed, with the firm having recently expanded into Europe, Alegre is keen to point out that Chartboost is a global business, with 12,000 developers using the service from all around the world.
Chartboost isn't bound by San Francisco, she clarifies. Rather, the city acts as the perfect global hub.
Open to everyone
"We never considered setting up the business elsewhere, but always intended on having a global market," she offers.
"Our business is worldwide, and San Francisco is a hub to the world. We have a lot of partners in Europe and Asia and we are now expanding our teams there too with our first international office in Amsterdam.
"Success comes from your relationship with your users and not with the other businesses around you."
This focus on a global marketplace is something that Alegre says is shared by the biggest players in California; Apple and Google.
A common message from the San Francisco studios we've spoken to is that, while the opportunity for face-to-face meetings with technology giants is of great benefit, platform holders have a global view when it comes to discovering the next big app. It's a view Alegre is happy to endorse.
"Apple and Google are global companies that look at the world and not only at the cities around them," confirms Alegre.
"I believe they have proven that they can identify and feature amazing talent from around the world. I believe that what gives you an advantage is to understand how Apple and Google think and maintain focus on quality. Both of those things matter a lot more than physical proximity."
Alegre firmly believes that setting up in San Francisco is not a quick way to position a business for future success. The city has given perspective to Chartboost, but she argues that it has fostered its success through its relationships with its users, not through relationships with the local metropolis.
A matter of relationships
"Gamers are everywhere and developers are everywhere," she clarifies.
"The reason for us to choose San Francisco has to do with size and perspective, but the mobile gaming industry is made of big and small studios all competing with each other in a fast growing ecosystem. The app stores have democratised the access to gamers, and developers from around the world are benefiting from that.
"Success comes from your relationship with your users and not with the other businesses around you."
Chartboost has embraced this global attitude, supporting the efforts of mobile games and apps businesses from every corner of the globe. In fact, only 15 percent of Chartboost's clients are located in San Francisco.
Indeed, Alegre implies that local developers don't really get any special treatment from her company.
"We meet in person a couple of times a year but normally around big events and conferences like GDC and Casual Connect where we also meet tons of international developers," says Alegre.
"We love meeting our partners in person, but our business is driven by numbers and technology so we are able to effectively work with developers everywhere."
App Store legitimacy
Of course, looking beyond San Francisco, we couldn't speak to the CEO of Chartboost without touching on the recent controversies around the number of "illegitimate" techniques used to boost downloads and chart positions on Apple's App Store.
With Apple supposedly clamping down on these tools, we asked Alegre if Chartboost's more traditional advertising-based business model is ever likely to be impacted by the platform holder's tweaks to the marketplace.
"We're thrilled that Apple is being proactive in removing illegitimate ways of influencing the rankings," she says. "This has only strengthened our business and validated our approach."
"Chartboost was built from the ground up focused on helping game developers acquire and retain high value users - people that enjoy and end up making purchases within that game.
"Our partners know that our transparency and data driven approach enables them to be intelligent about every dollar spent and our tools enable them to expose every user they acquire, either virally or paid, to their entire portfolio of games."
Have you worked in video game development in San Francisco? What was your experience of the area and what do you think the future holds? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
