Industry veteran David Gardner named VP for games at BAFTA

Former EA and Atari exec David Gardner has been named BAFTA's first VP for Games.

Gardner, who is currently co-founder at investment firm London Venture Partners, joins Barbara Broccoli OBE (VP for film) and Greg Dyke (VP for TV).

It follows the charity organisation's renewed commitment to growing its global games membership, which will see the firm attend more US-based events including GDC and E3. BAFTA also vows to improve its events programme and will work with Twitch to offer content to members in other parts of the world.

Gardner is a 30-year industry veteran. He was one of the first employees at EA in the US before relocating to London to manage the firm's international office. He was part of the team pushing to create the first FIFA video game, and was made MD for Europe in 1992. By 2004 he was EVP of EA's entire international business and then later COO of Worldwide Studios.

He became CEO of Atari in 2007 in an effort to rejuvenate that brand and was even awarded an OBE that same year.

Gardner's most recent position at LVP has seen him operate behind-the-scenes, but his team has certainly had an impact with investments in Unity, Supercell, Natural Motion and more.

"BAFTA is a fabulous organisation that helps advance the art of gaming, film and television," he said in a statement. "It is unique in that it brings so many storytelling mediums together, and has established itself as a globally recognised charity for peer review, advancement and education. I view my role as helping to expand the game industry's participation in this tradition and look forward to the breakthroughs that will follow from sharing our craft."