Former Facebook exec Damian Burns is Twitch’s first EMEA managing director

Former Facebook executive Damian Burns has been appointed Twitch’s first EMEA managing director. 

The company says that as EMEA Managing Director, Burns will “oversee the expansion of Twitch to benefit content creators, media partners, agencies, advertisers, publishers, and developers”.

“Twitch has built a healthy and thriving community in EMEA and we are well placed for future growth,” said Sara Clemens, COO at Twitch. “Damian’s deep experience in digital advertising, gaming and community services make him the ideal partner to help realize the potential of multiplayer entertainment.  Damian brings over 20 years of expertise working with media partners, agencies and content communities. He will play an integral role in enhancing Twitch’s position in EMEA.”

“Twitch not only remains at the forefront of the gaming and esports landscape but is changing the way we think about entertainment” added Burns. “Twitch presents an impossible-to-replicate experience thanks to content creators and their community while offering industry-leading technology and an unparalleled opportunity to media partners, advertisers and publishers alike. Twitch is going from strength to strength in EMEA and I am excited to be part of this success story.”

The former CMO of Zynga, Doug Scott, also recently joined Twitch. During his three years at Zynga, Scott led global marketing for the firm, having previously worked at music startup BandPage in the same position, and as VP at mobile game publisher, DeNA. In the past, he’s also worked as an advisor to YouTube Music and he’s served on the board for Matrixx Initiatives. Together, that makes his background a great fit for Twitch, which is starting to expand its horizons further afield than just games.

Twitch recently announced Project Ultraviolet, a “top-secret update” that pays homage to games and its online community. A major brand refresh ahead of September’s TwitchCon, the changes includes a new colour palette, Twitch logo, font and the “entire community experience of the product”. 

Described as “the first of many steps [Twitch is] taking with [its] new shared understanding of what Twitch’s brand and product experience should be”, Twitch said at the time that the changes were designed to put the Twitch user “front and centre and equipped to shine as [users] reinvent what entertainment is and can be”.