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Mobile game jobs weekly: Nordeus makes string of key hires, Gameloft to close Madrid studio, 80-plus EA Mobile vacancies

The movers, shakers and job opportunities in mobile gaming

Mobile game jobs weekly: Nordeus makes string of key hires, Gameloft to close Madrid studio, 80-plus EA Mobile vacancies

Welcome to our new regular weekly article where we round-up the week's big movers and shakers in the mobile games industry.

We’ll also be linking to handy jobs-related articles and identifying the top job opportunities in the sector.

Check out last week's big movers and vacancies here.

Movers, shakers and job opportunities

Don’t forget you can check out our official jobs board for vacancies in the mobile games business. We’ve also published a list of companies currently hiring, which we update each month, available right here.

In this article you'll find:

Got jobs news you’d like to share? Contact PocketGamer.biz Senior Editor Craig Chapple at craig.chapple@steelmedia.co.uk.


Click here to view the list »
  • 1 The movers and shakers

    Check out this week's movers and shakers in the mobile games industry right here.

    Got a new hire we should cover? Get in touch with our senior editor at craig.chapple@steelmedia.co.uk.

    Click on the links to get the full story (where applicable).

    Top Eleven dev Nordeus makes string of key hires from EA, Goodgame, Radiant Worlds and more

    Serbia-based Top Eleven developer Nordeus has made a string of hires to its executive and senior teams.

    The recruitment drive has been spearheaded by the company’s appointment of ex-Jet.com VP head of talent Caralyn Cooley as its chief people officer in May last year.

    Cooley has been responsible for recruiting new staff, which includes seven senior hires over the last year as the studio ramps up work on new projects.

    Recent hires include: Executive producers Andy Norman, Joe McDonagh and Dave Thompson, game art director Harvey Parker, marketing art director Carsten Biernat, marketing lead Lucian Cotreanti and head of PR Gareth Arculus.

    Nordeus chief people officer Caralyn Cooley

     

    Dots developer hires ex-King head of game franchises as new president

    New York-based developer Dots has brought in former King head of games franchises and studio Nir Efrat as its new president.

    In the new role he’ll lead the company’s business operations and expansion plans.

    He’ll work with company co-founder and new CEO Patrick Moberg who will spearhead the company’s creative direction and brand vision.

    During his time at King Efrat worked on IP including Farm Heroes, Bubble Witch, Pet Rescue and Paradise Bay. Prior to King he worked at casino firm 888.com, Nokia and the Israeli Air Force.

     

    Report: Gameloft to close down Madrid studio

    French publisher Gameloft is reportedly in the process of shutting down its studio in Madrid with 40 employees set to lose their jobs.

    As reported by Vandal, the closing of the Madrid offices will not be immediate as Gameloft is still in the process of working on settlements and contract terminations.

    The news comes a month after the publisher was said to have let go of up to 50 members of staff from the same studio.

     

    FarmVille co-creator Mark Skaggs departs Indian developer Moonfrog Labs

    FarmVille co-creator Mark Skaggs has left his post as game designer and Indian developer Moonfrog Labs.

    As reported by Gamesbeat, Skaggs published two games during his time at the studio including Bahubali: The Game, which racked up 10 million downloads, and celebrity title Alia Bhatt: Star Life.

    Skaggs said he was heading back to the US to spend more time with his family.

    Mark Skaggs

    “The opportunity in India is even more clear than it was two years ago when I joined Moonfrog and I’m still invested in their success going forward,” said Skaggs.

    “Working there has been a great adventure that I will always treasure and I wish the team great success in the future. I will be cheering for you guys from Texas. Now, I’m off to my next adventure.”

     

    Reality Clash pulls PlayStation veteran Anthony Bray to head up its operations

    UK studio Reality Clash has brought in PlayStation veteran Anthony Bray to head up its operations department ahead of its upcoming augmented reality mobile combat game Reality Clash.

    Bray was previously on the team that launched PlayStation in Europe, while more recently he has worked at companies such as mobile games developer Typhon Mobile as project lead, eRepublik Labs as project manager and at Daedelus Partners in a similar role.

    His new position will entail focusing on Reality Clash’s online Armoury store and app ahead of its March launch, before overseeing user acquisition, engagement, retention and marketing for the company.

     

    Wargaming UK PR manager Frazer Nash leaves to start up own company

    Wargaming UK PR manager Frazer Nash has left the World of Tanks developer after eight years and set up his own company.

    During his time at Wargaming he helped for a number of partnerships with museums, resulting in the building of the Education Centre, the Dornier 17 exhibition at the RAF museum and more.

    Now he’s started his own company offering services in PR for games firms and companies in other sectors.

    One of his first new clients is My.com, for whom he will handle the publisher's UK PR.

  • 2 The mobile game job vacancies

    Here we feature a select few vacancies from our jobs board and the hottest job openings elsewhere around the industry.

     

    A Thinking Ape

    Vancouver-based developer A Thinking Ape has a trio of vacancies open right now, which include:

    3D Generalist

    Product Designer

    Software Development Engineer

     

    Rovio

    Angry Birds and Battle Bay developer Rovio is hiring across a number of roles, including:

    Cloud Enginer - Espoo, Finland

    Product Manager (Slingshot Studio) - Espoo, Finland

    Art Director (Puzzle Studio) - Espoo. Finland

    Senior Game Designer (Puzzle Studio) - Espoo, Finland

    Senior Game Programmer (Puzzle Studio) - Espoo, Finland

     

    More jobs highlights

    Senior 3D Artist (BoomBit Games) - Gdansk, Poland

    3D Lead Artist (Glass Egg) - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Programmers- Unity/C#/Python in London (The Secret Police) - London, UK

    Audience Development Editor (Steel Media) - London, UK

    User Acquisition Expert (Ubisoft) - Paris, France or London, UK

     

    Hot vacancies around the mobile games industry

    UK developer Space Ape Games is on the lookout for a lead cinematic designer to work with both in-development and prototype teams.

    Mobile games publisher Tilting Point is hiring a Game Manager to work closely with the company's development partners to design and implement features aimed at monetising, engaging and retaining players.

    Are you a student looking for an opportunity in games? Nanobit, the developer of My Story: Choose Your Own Path - one of the hottest interactive narrative games about right now - is hiring for a creative writer at its office in Zagreb, Croatia with a proficiency in English.

    Lords Mobile developer I Got Games (IGG) is after a senior game designer to work at its office in Fuzhou, China.

    German developer InnoGames wants a new head of art who will be responsible for the overall art production framework of the fast-growing company.


  • 3 The week's big recruiters

    Here we link to a selection of the current big recruiters in the mobile games space.

    Know of some hot job opportunities? Email craig.chapple@steelmedia.co.uk.

    Magic Leap

    The mixed reality start-up with big plans (it's raised in the region of $2.3 billion to date) has well over 100 job vacancies available as it sets its sights on world domination.

    Voodoo

    Voodoo is one of the hottest mobile games publishers in the industry right now and regularly has multiple titles in the top download charts. Its currently on the lookout for 11 new employees across development, art, publishing and user acquisition roles.

    Miniclip

    Another hot mobile games developer and publisher, behind titles such as 8 Ball Pool, Miniclip has 16 roles open in areas such as game design, production, art, engineering and more.

    Jagex

    The RuneScape developer has been on somewhat of a hiring spree in recent times as it greatly expands its operations - including releasing its hit title on mobile platforms. To that end it has over 30 vacancies across both RuneScape and an unannounced MMO.

    EA Mobile

    It's no secret that EA runs a rather large operation that has a successful output with games such as Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, FIFA, Madden and more recently The Sims Mobile. Across its global mobile studios, the company has more than 80 vacancies awaiting applicants.


  • 4 Jobs news around the games industry

    Still here? Well while we've got you, here you can find jobs news from around the rest of the games industry, courtesy of our sister-sites PCGamesInsider.biz, InflunecerUpdate.biz and TheVirtualReport.biz.

    Click on the links to get the full story.

     

    Snapchat owner to lay off 100 workers, reports claim

    Around 10 per cent of Snap’s engineering workforce are to lose their jobs, according to two reports.

    CNBC says that 100 engineers are being laid off. The move follows smaller rounds of layoffs in Snap’s marketing, recruitment and content divisions, but would be the most significant to hit the company so far.

    This follows similar reports from Cheddar, which says that the cuts would have only been announced internally this week.

    It adds that the previous layoffs affected only “a couple of dozen” employees, and that the company’s hiring rate was slowed by about 60 per cent last quarter.

     

    Ubisoft doubling down on The Division with new hires

    It would seem that publishing giant Ubisoft has some big plans for military MMO The Division.

    As spotted by the good folks over at PCGamesN, the Swedish developer behind the title Massive Entertainment is on the hunt for a new round of hires for the project.

    Ubisoft's job board shows vacancies for sound, narrative and technical game designers, among 25 job openings, with mentions of plans to expand the project's world.

    The Division launched in 2016 to largely positive feedback. The game became the best-selling new IP at the time, beating the record set by Activision's 2014 MMO Destiny.

     

    BattleCry Studios is now Bethesda Austin

    In a bizarre announcement, Bethesda has announced that BattleCry Studios is joining the Bethesda family as Bethesda Game Studios Austin.

    BattleCry Studios is the Texas-based developer behind the canned team shooter of the same name, and is a developer that was already owned by Bethesda parent firm ZeniMax.

    What this means, in practical terms, is unclear - this new Austin outfit might be helping Bethesda's other development studios in Maryland and Montreal with upcoming Fallout or The Elder Scrolls releases, or it could be working on something else entirely.

     

     

     

     

     


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.