NBCUniversal hires ex-Disney lead for new mobile and VR group

Former Disney mobile games senior vice president, Chris Heatherly, is now heading up VR and mobile games for NBCUniversal.

As reported by VentureBeat, Heatherly will be leading the newly established group as part of NBCUniversal.

“Universal has decided to take a strategic position in games, Heatherly told the publication. "We are pushing heavily in the digital space. And they see there is no bigger digital space than games. It’s part of a larger plan to build evergreen franchises that support multiple products across multiple businesses.

"80 percent of the focus is on mobile,” Heatherly said. “But we will also be looking at emerging areas like VR. We are leveraging the best talent that is already out there.”

Heatherly’s hiring is not new news, having joined the company from Disney in September 2016, but the intention for NBC to re-enter the gaming market. NBCUniversal hold the licences for the Fast and the Furious, which was most recently used in tandem with Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 2 game, and also holds such franchises as Jurassic Park and Minions.