MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Here are the highlights from the recent industry hires and moves, as published in MCV/DEVELOP’s April issue.
Michael Denny has been named vice president and studio head at TT Games. Denny previously held the role of senior vice president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios Europe, heading up the company’s game development operations in the region. Denny will oversee strategy, execution and business operations for all TT Games offices and its portfolio of titles, “I’m very excited by the opportunity to help create a new vision for TT and lead the studio forward to another successful phase of its evolution” said Denny.
Ubisoft have two new junior communications managers, after both Katie Laurence and Calum Ridgewell received promotions this month.
Laurence will be managing Ubisoft’s GaaS and free to play games including Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Roller Champions and many more.
Meanwhile, Ridgewell will be managing many upcoming titles and projects this year, including Gods & Monsters.
Wargaming has appointed Ingo Horn as their new ‘communication director europe’. In this position, Horn will lead a team of seven regional communications experts across key European territories, speak on behalf of Wargaming for all products on all platforms in Europe, and report directly to global PR director, Arthur Pratapopau. Horn is well-known for his involvement with charity. He founded Gaming-Aid in 2013 and the streaming movement Letsplay4Charity in 2018, and has received more than €200,000 in donations for various charities. In 2016, he was honoured as an inductee of the German Game Developer Awards Hall of Fame.
Veteran game creator, Mike Booth, Creator of Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Nox has joined Resolution Games’ board of directors. Booth will join a strong lineup of gaming experts to help steer the direction of the company, while also working hands-on with the company’s games team.
Sumo Digital Group has made two senior appointments. First, co-founder Darren Mills has been appointed director of excellence and integration. “As a co-founder of Sumo, Darren is the perfect candidate to add value and make an impact in this important role within the Group” said Paul Porter, COO, Sumo Group.
Meanwhile, Jim Woods has been promoted to fill Mills’ former role as studio director at Sumo Sheffield. “Jim worked with Sumo for over a decade before joining the company in 2017. His experience and pragmatism have put him in great stead to lead our largest studio” said Porter.
Sumo Warrington meanwhile, has appointed Andrew Jones as associate technical director. “Becoming a part of this new team is a great opportunity. We’ve got our own remit here along with the support of one of the UK’s biggest and most highly regarded independent studios”
said Jones.
Hyper-casual developer Kwalee has hired Dilpesh Parmar as its new head of ad monetisation. Parmar joins the Leamington Spa-based studio with 12 years of ad monetisation experience. Most recently, he worked for international ad network IQzone, where he departs as COO. In addition to this, Parmar’s resume includes a two-year tenure at Shazam, where he set up ad monetisation for brands. Kwalee CEO David Darling stated: “Dilpesh brings such a breadth of experience in the area of ad monetisation, it’s brilliant to have him on board.”
Jules Langran has joined MAG Interactive as art director at its Brighton studio. She left her previous role as art director at Plug-In, where she was part of the team that won a BAFTA Children’s Award in the Interactive: Adaptive category. Langran will help the studio to create a new product and build on its success as a leading mobile developer and publisher of casual mobile games.
Games industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls has joined Ampere Analysts as head of games research and research director. Harding-Rolls was previously at IHS Markit, where he had been the head of games research and lead VR/AR analyst for nine years.
GameInfluencer has appointed David An as its new CEO. He said: ”GameInfluencer has developed into one of the leading influencer marketing companies in the gaming industry. In our next phase, we will open up our network of influencers to global non-gaming brands who seek creative ways to reach younger audiences. I am looking forward to working with the team.”
After 4 years at Wired Productions, 30 Under 30 honouree Alasdair Hibberd has joined Frontier Developments as product manager. Hibberd was product marketing manager at Wired Productions, where he joined as product manager for the We Sing franchise.
