Exient appoints NaturalMotion veteran Paul Topping as new chief commercial officer

Indie developer and games publisher Exient has hired NaturalMotion veteran Paul Topping as its new chief commercial officer, bringing more than 20 years of experience to the role.

At Exient, Topping will lead the existing business development team in fostering relationships with partners and driving engagement with other developers and publishers.

He will support those partners under a "work-for-hire" model that leverages Exient’s knowledge of live ops, analytics, QA and community support, which have previously supported brands like Angry Birds, Transformers and FIFA.

In addition to third-party collaborative efforts, Topping will also be responsible for Exient’s own first-party projects.

Executive hire

Topping’s two decades of experience include more than seven years spent at Zynga subsidiary NaturalMotion, where he worked from November 2010 to March 2018. His career also spans advisory roles at Criterion, Codemasters, Tag Games and FiveAI.

Most recently, Topping worked outside of the games industry as head of business development at Zircotec Group.

"Exient has a long history of creating incredibly successful products around different IPs. Reimagining games to play to each platform's strength has led to delighted players and strong sales," said Topping.

"I'm excited to find us new partners to work with who value the quality of our work and timely delivery. On a personal note, I'm excited to be back in games and catching up with old friends and meeting new ones."

Exient CEO Julian Jones added: "Paul’s appointment will reinforce Exient’s status as the go-to partner for IP owners in games and entertainment, building on the entire team’s outstanding job of securing and delivering on the creative ambitions of our partners throughout what was a fantastic 2024.

"Looking ahead to 2025 and 2026, we aim to further accelerate our engagements with larger businesses and take on ever more prestigious projects."

Exient product lead Tommy Prentice recently shared with us the secrets to building great community relationships and "keeping the creative spark alive in your teams".