Criterion co-founder heads to PlayJam as new CTO

UK Smart TV games outfit PlayJam has snapped-up the co-founder of Criterion as its new chief technology officer.

Adam Billyard, who previously held the same role at the Burnout developer and EA Tech, will be responsible for leading the company’s technological development.

“Adam joins a long list of industry veterans supporting PlayJam’s absolute belief that Smart TV will emerge as one of the most important games platforms over the coming years,” said PlayJam CEO Jasper Smith.

“His extensive experience will help ensure PlayJam maintains its already significant momentum and position as the dominant games service in this space”.

Whilst at Criterion, as well as working on the Burnout series, Billyard also helped develop 3D graphics rendering tech Renderware, which has been used in games such as Grand Theft Auto III.

Earlier this month the London social games company received a £538,000 government investment as part of a wider bid to help small and medium-sized businesses across the UK, whilst also garnering a total of £3.6 million from its angel investor funding round.