Jobs roundup: Karl Magnus Troedsson leaves EA DICE for Raw Fury
Also, App Annie hired a new CMO, ESL made several exec appointments and Ripstone brings on Mike Rose
It can be difficult keeping track of the various comings and goings in the games industry, which is why we've decided to start compiling them in semi-regular round-ups. If you have new appointments or transitions in your company that belong here, please get in touch with us here.
Raw Fury has grabbed EA DICE VP Karl Magnus Troedsson - The publisher of indie titles has landed a big fish, securing Troedsson (a 15-year DICE veteran) as its fifth member. "We're going to flat out say this right now - KM is not joining to make us corporate," Raw Fury wrote on its blog. "He is coming to Raw Fury to follow his passion for indie games, to help the developers while working with a small group of ambitious friends (yes, that's us)." The company added that KM "comes in as a co-owner, partner, and an equal" and deliberately has no title yet because "titles don't matter." Raw Fury is definitely attempting to do things differently in the industry, as it seeks to close the gates to the "developer valley of death."
ESL has added a pair of executives - The self-proclaimed "world's largest eSports company" hired Yvette Martinez-Rea as chief operating officer and Chad Perry, an Emmy-winning sports television producer, as vice president of production. "According to Newzoo, the popularity of eSports is on par with traditional sports. By 2017, the number of eSports fans will come close to that of NFL. To be a part of such a rapidly growing industry and to join ESL, one of the world's most well-known and respected esports companies, was an easy decision," remarked Perry. Craig Levine, ESL North America CEO, added, "We could not be more thrilled to welcome both Yvette and Chad to the ESL team. The wealth of experience and knowledge both bring to the table will tremendously impact ESL's growth in the year to come."
App Annie hired Al Campa as chief marketing officer - The mobile data firm has increased its headcount from 300 to 450 and secured $63 million in Series E financing over the last 12 months and now it's added the former Chief Marketing Officer of RingCentral, Al Campa. "App Annie's market-leading Intelligence suite has empowered many reputable companies - including Universal Studios, Coca-Cola, Target, Google, and Orbitz - with insights to more effectively build their mobile app businesses," said Campa. "I'm excited to join a visionary company that's leading the growth of the mobile app economy, and look forward to working with the team to scale a great technology company that provides invaluable solutions to its customers."
Publishing house Ripstone Games has brought on Mike Rose - The former Gamasutra writer was most recently at developer TinyBuild, and now Ripstone has hired him to assist with its publishing drive. Ripstone, known for Stick It To The Man!, Knytt Underground, Ironcast, and the Pure series, is promising to sign a number of games from third-party developers. The company has sold more than 10 million game units to date and is also seeking to increase in-house development efforts with Plague Inc. and VR releases. "We're really looking to explode over the next year. Hiring Mike will no doubt help us achieve that, and we're super excited to hunt for more great titles and developers to bring into the Ripstone family," said Ripstone Head of Marketing & PR Michelle Turner.