The mobile game industry is huge and growing 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 our weekly round-up of hires comes in. Who's doing what for who and where… Every Monday we give a brief rundown of the latest moves. Starting off today with…
Paper Games appoints Wengfeng Yang as SVP
Yang - AKA Engputer - is a Chinese entrepreneur and game developer who is best known for launching the game Conquer Online in 2003 as part of NetDragon, which became one of the first successful free-to-play games on PC. He’s was one of the key figures in popularising free-to-play gaming with revenue coming from microtransactions rather than an upfront fee.
“Thrilled to share my career move! Now as SVP at Paper Games, I will be spearheading the expansion of Paper Games into the Western market,” he said in a post on LinkedIn. “This entails leveraging my 20-year game industry expertise to introduce our compelling game offerings to new audiences, building strategic partnerships, and ensuring our games resonate with players in this market.”
Yang shared the news of his appointment via a post on LinkedIn here.
Odeeo hires Rohan Premnath, as EMEA commercial lead
Odeeo have appointed audio advertising expert, Rohan Premnath, as their new EMEA Commercial Lead
Highlighting Odeeo’s continued expansion of its in-game audio advertising solution, Rohan’s recruitment marks the company’s first UK hire.
Commenting on his appointment Premnath commented, “Digital audio has continued to go from strength to strength over the past few years despite turbulent times, and gaming has quickly become the fastest growing emerging channel for brand advertisers.”
Rohan brings almost a decade of audio expertise to the role and takes Odeeo’s total team to 46 personnel across five countries. Previously he led partner market sales and new market launches at Spotify, headed up sales at AdsWizz, an SXM company, as well as working in the audio advertising field, bringing in-game audio to market for Audiomob.
Odeeo CEO, Amit Monheit said, “Now is the time to expand our leadership team with additional commercial experience. We bring in leaders with the right domain expertise to help advertisers embrace in-game audio at scale. I'm thrilled to have Rohan join the team, as his deep industry expertise and amazing reputation will help Odeeo expand across EMEA.”
Find out more in the full press release here.
Anna Sweet, CEO of Bad Robot Games joins the board of Super Evil Megacorp
Super Evil Megacorp have welcomed Anna Sweet to their board.
Commenting in an official release the company states that “Anna brings a wealth of experience to the lair as current CEO of Bad Robot Games and from leadership roles at Valve and Facebook. Anna has been at the forefront of gaming and innovation for over 15 years, working as part of the team who pioneered Steam’s PC distribution platform and as head of developer strategy at Oculus.”
“I’m looking forward to supporting SEMC with their ambitious plans to deliver cross platform experiences for some truly special IP,” says Sweet. “As the mobile, console and PC spaces converge, this team is uniquely placed to treat all gaming audiences as first class citizens.”
The news was shared in a LinkedIn post from Super Evil Megacorp CEO, Kristian Segerstrale.
Carlos Antunes has been appointed as head of League of Legends Esports - Americas at Riot Games
In his new role Antunes will be responsible for the strategic direction of the eSports products, leading the creation and development of eSports products that will both deliver beyond player expectations and create an evolving and sustainable business ecosystem for all eSports players to grow, by supporting / leveling up teams in eSports operations, communications, content and live events production and business development (sponsorship, media rights and licensing)
"I am incredibly humbled and excited to step into the role of Head of League Of=Legends esports for the Americas supporting the Brazil, North America and Latin America product leads and teams," he said.
"The last eight years of my career have been an amazing journey. Even now, I feel the same enthusiasm as I did during my first Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends finals, just two months after joining Riot Games. It is an inexplicable feeling of belonging to something bigger than myself and the honor of being in a position to fight for esports."
Previously Antunes was Director of Digital Strategy at DM9DDB Responsible for the conception, planning and implementation of digital strategies for clients. Prior to that he was Director - Multimeios/Digital at Artplan/Gruda running teams in three branches and responsible for the integration with offline and overall planning, creation and deployment of digital platforms.
Wei Yue is the new competition & esports director at Amazon Games
Yue is a manager with over 10 years of experience and a proven track record to grow and develop teams, plus over 20 years of experience in competitive gaming & esports.
Previously he was esports director at Ubisoft Montréal developing a multi-year vision and strategy for the global esports program of Rainbow Six Siege. Prior to that he was associate manager, esports EMEA at Blizzard Entertainment.
“I’m thrilled to share that I’m starting my new professional journey as the Competition & Esports Director at Amazon Games,” he says. “The game is still in early development and I couldn't be more excited to have this unique opportunity to engrain the competitive vision and esports ecosystem directly into the DNA of the product.”
Yue shared the news in a post to LinkedIn here.
Know of any mobile games industry job news that you think should be here? Don't hesitate to reach out to us at editorial@steelmedianetwork.com
