David Yarnton has been involved in the video games industry for over 30 years.
For 17 of those years he was senior manager at Nintendo in Australia, moving to the UK in 2003 as MD for UK & Ireland where he was responsible for €1.45 billion of business.
He was a founding director of Gfinity, the only listed esports company in the UK, and the first company in the world to launch a dedicated esports arena in London.
Gfinity also has a venue in Australia and has run esports tournaments in China, France, USA and Mexico.
Yarnton left Gfinity as a director in 2018 and is currently a founder and chairman of Edge Esports, which is developing a platform for self-activating digital contracts and payments in the digital space.
We caught up with Yarnton to talk about the changing state of tech in the games industry and the opportunities it can offer.
PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about Edge?
David Yarnton: Edge creates contracts between the league, their teams, players and uses APIs to monitor data and automate payments.
What does your role entail?
As a start-up you generally get involved in all parts of the business but I do know my limitations and that definitely is in the depth of my technical knowledge and abilities. But I'm always willing to try and learn new things, albeit slowly!
Why did you want to work in the games industry?
I've been in the games industry for over 30 years so it's pretty hard to remember why I originally got involved.
I know that I have always been a gamer and love tech so I suppose I'm in the right place and have no regrets.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?
There are so many different aspects to the games industry so don't limit yourself. If you can get your foot in the door, be prepared to take anything on and then pivot if need to be into areas that you are passionate about.
What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?
The great thing about the games industry is that it is constantly changing and there's always new tech that gives developers so much opportunity to create fantastic product, new IP and entertainment properties.
What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?
Over the years we have had so many new innovations ranging from the increase in power capacity and graphic capabilities of the hardware, to VR & AR and I suppose the hot new one is currently cloud gaming and how that will evolve.
How has the games industry changed since you first started?
I started playing games on a very basic 8-bit console with simple monochrome graphics (Pong) and now we have hardware more advanced than some of the tech that sent man to the moon.
There was always creativity in the industry but tech continues to evolve and give people even more opportunities to push the boundaries of what can be done.
Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?
Every year I learn something new, meet interesting people and generally discover a new game to take up.
At Pocket Gamer Connects London 2020, David Yarnton will be giving a talk called "Show me the Money - Where is the money in Esports?".
To find out more about the show, and to secure your tickets, click here.
