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Former Gaikai boss David Perry named CEO of Instagram influencer marketing start-up

GoVyrl aims to connect influencers and companies for marketing campaigns

Former Gaikai boss David Perry named CEO of Instagram influencer marketing start-up

Former Gaikai boss David Perryhas been named the CEO a new start-up called GoVyrl that aims to connect Instagram influencers with businesses.

The California-based company already has an app on the App Store called Vyrl. It works much like Tinder in that users can swipe right to match and collaborate on a project, or left to pass.

Once matched, influencers and companies can then chat about working on a project.

The site claims that influencers can only qualify for the app if they have more than 5,000 followers. Its sign-ups to date are said to have a reach of more than 550 million people.

"Authentic" influencer marketing

According to Perry’s LinkedIn profile, he met the GoVyrl team through a school entrepreneurship program and decided to accept an offer to help grow the company further.

“I personally believe authentic influencer marketing has a much brighter future than all the friction and annoyance we used to accept from old-school TV, magazine and even online banner advertising,” he wrote.

Perry was previously the CEO of cloud gaming service Gaikai, which was subsequently bought by Sony for $380 million and renamed PlayStation Now. He left his role at Sony in June 2017.

Perry has also previously worked at companies such as Acclaim, Shiny Entertainment and Virgin Games

Instant wins

Influencer marketing is often a key part of many user acquisition campaigns by companies in the games industry. Studios like Supercell, Space Ape and Seriously have all used influencers in recent times, though typically hailing from sites like Twitch and YouTube.

Developers have also been known to use sites such as Instagram to help promote their games. Qaos Games CEO Sebastian Lindén previously told PocketGamer.biz it used Instagram influencers to become the top free game in Sweden with around 70,000+ downloads in less than 12 days.


Head of Content

Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.