Oculus hires former Activision SVP as COO

Virtual Reality outfit Oculus has appointed former Activision senior VP and head of development Laird Malamed as its new chief operating officer.

Malamed will be responsible for overseeing the operational aspects of the company including manufacturing, logistics, finance, legal and human resources.

“The opportunity to join Oculus and build the future of virtual reality gaming was too exciting to pass up,” said Malamed.

“I look forward to being part of the team, creating a completely new medium for the video game industry and its many potential applications for the future.”


Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe added: “With 18 years in the video game industry, Laird brings a wealth of expertise in producing some of the industry’s biggest and most successful brands and shipping them to market. Laird’s insights will be instrumental in helping Oculus through its accelerated growth as we approach the launch of the Oculus Rift. We are thrilled to have him.”

Before leaving Activision in December 2011, Malamed had worked at the publisher for over 15 years and oversaw the production of titles such as Call of Duty, Skylanders and Guitard Hero.