As 2023 races by, something we’ve been eager to cover is the dynamic movement in jobs and roles taking place across the mobile game industry at the moment. The industry is huge, growing and strong as ever, so there's a lot to keep track of. Whether that’s new board members, executives or key team members, knowing who’s going where and doing what is key to understanding the industry.
That’s where this series of articles covering hires, moves and more that are taking place across mobile gaming landscape comes in. We’ll give a brief overview of who these individuals are, what they’re doing and why we’ve added them to this week’s recap. Starting off today with…
Christina Wootton appointed to the role of chief partnership officer at Roblox
Christina Wootton first joined the Roblox team in 2014, and since then she has been climbing the company’s ranks, from her initial position as director of sales to VP of global partnerships in 2018, a role she held until her appointment to the role of CPO last week.
In her new role, Wootton will lead the company’s partnerships, education and business development. With Roblox quickly establishing itself as one of the world’s foremost metaverse platforms and partnering with massive brands such as Netflix, Disney, and Universal, we can surely look forward to many more partnerships in the future.
A slate of hires at Playtika
Playtika saw some major job moves last week across a variety of departments, perhaps fittingly for a company with such diverse mobile gaming interests.
Among the new appointments were two directorial roles, with Adi Davidi taking the role of creative director while Mirit Modzislawski has been appointed to the role of director of people analytics HRIS and HR operation. Meanwhile, Guy Ben Shushan has been appointed to the role of user acquisition manager - retargeting, Guy Noiman has taken the role of VIP account manager, and Hagar Yohay is now the the company’s monetisation manager.
Google’s Adel Karimi joins Niantic
Adel Karimi has joined Niantic as senior security engineer of threat detection and response, following his tenure as security engineer and tech lead at Google.
As the developer behind Pokemon Go - one of the most popular and profitable mobile games in history - security is no doubt of massive concern to the company, and hiring a senior security engineer straight from one of the world’s biggest tech companies reflects Niantic’s priorities.
Lennart Sparud steps down as Thunderful CFO
Lennart Sparud that he is stepping down from his current role as Thunderful CFO, with the recruitment process for his replacement beginning immediately, with Sparud leaving his role by December 30 at the latest.
Sparud’s resignation came as his own request as he has “chosen to take on new challenges outside the company,” and he remains confident that the company is well-equipped for future success thanks to its diverse range of subsidiaries and skilled workforce.
Aidana Kainbayeva joins Playrix as total rewards manager
Playrix is a fixture in our top 50 list, thanks in part to the continued success of titles such as Gardenscapes and Townships. As one of the world's most successful mobile developers, the company is well-placed to attract significant talent, and has appointed Aidana Kainbayava to the role of total rewards manager, following a varied history in leadership roles.
Working remotely from Kazakhstan, this new role marks Kainbayeva's first role in the games industry, following her tenures in financial advisory firm Deloitte and as a compensation and benefits specialist at Efes Kazakhstan.
Brian Maricle joins NetEase Games as executive art director
NetEase is one of the biggest mobile gaming companies on the planet, and as such is well-placed to attract the best and brightest names in the industry. The latest of these hirings is Brian Maricle, who joins the company in the role of executive art director following a tenure of almost three years at Keywords Studios, rising from the position of associate art director of characters to studio art director.
In his new role, Maricle will work on a variety of diverse titles as part of NetEase’s Art Design Centre division, working from the division’s office in Pasadena.
If you, or anybody you've worked with, have any mobile games industry job news they'd like to relay to the team then don't hesitate to reach out to us on editorial@steelmedianetwork.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
