Gameloft has hired former Arena Azure Head of Audio Visual John-Paul Burkeas its new Country Manager for the UK and Ireland.

Burke will be tasked with driving growth in the region, overseeing sales and marketing teams, and ensuring business profitability. He will also lead the Gameloft Advertising Solutions team for the region.

He joins after three years at Arena Azure, which is owned by Havas, a company that Vivendi, Gameloft's owner, recently acquired a majority stake in. Prior to this role, Burke had also been Head of Sales at Bin Weevils for five years.

Long-time fan

"As a long-time fan of Gameloft's games, I am lucky to find myself working for a brand that I am truly passionate about," he said.

"I am excited to work with Gameloft at such crucial a time for the business; we have seen impressive growth and success over the last few years and I am very much looking forward to using my experience to drive this forward."

Gameloft hasn't got off to a great start in its FY17, with Q1 profits falling 40% quarter-on-quarter to $3.2 million. Its userbase is growing however, with 138 million MAUs in Q1 Fy17.