G2 Hires Industry Vet for Biz Dev, Rivalry Scores Cody Luongo
Plus all the other big moves in esports and gaming this week.
Movers & Shakers
Esports industry marketing and business development veteran Donald Boyce announced on Wednesday that he has joined Berlin-based esports organization G2 Esports as its new head of business development and sales. Boyce joins G2 from North American esports organization Cloud9, where he spent more than three years serving SVP of sales, marketing, and partnerships; and VP of partnerships. Boyce will work out of G2’s offices in Los Angeles.
Cody Luongo announced this week that he is leaving Santa Monica-based gaming and esports focused PR firm JSA+Partners to join gambling firm Rivalry as its new senior manager in charge of corporate communications. While at JSA+Partners, Luongo spent the last two years representing such clients as Electronic Arts, Vindex, and other major stakeholders in esports and gaming. Prior to that he worked as a freelance writer for Esports Insider and as head of communications at Ultimate Gaming Championship (full disclosure: I edit Cody's weekly Sharpr newsletter about gambling and esports).
People on the Move
Here is this week’s list of promotions, hires, and departures in the gaming/esports industry:
Esports:
Jared Neuss joins Blizzard as executive producer and vice president for Overwatch 2.
Eric Aaberg, social media manager and mascot manager for Complexity Gaming, has taken on an additional role as mascot manager for the Dallas Cowboys.
Jens Keßel has been promoted to head of TV production at Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH.
Michael Dawe has left his role at Amazon to join Riot Games as its new senior software engineering manager for Valorant.
Viktor Erlandsson is promoted to the role senior activations manager at Challengermode.
Anas Ben Najam has signed a contract with PUBG Mobile Esports to serve as social media manager for South Asia.
Jannik Hülshoff will lead partnerships in Southern & Northern Europe for Twitch.
Jud Hannigan has left his role as CEO of Allied Esports.
Warren Jansons leaves his role as EVP of revenue at Enthusiast Gaming to join sports metaverse company Stadium Live Studios as head of business development, partnerships, and revenue.
Damian Gowarzewski exits Red Bull to join ESL FACEIT Group as its new marketing manager for mobile gaming & esports.
Tracy Franco is promoted to executive assistant, partnerships at Epic Games.
Elissa Young leaves her role as senior manager of PR & communications at ONE Esports.
Former YOOZOO Games, Nazara Technologies, and Krafton exec Anuj Tandon joins JetSynthesys as CEO.
Isaac Forcella-Burton has left his roles at Veloce Esports/Quadrant.
Kevin Truong joins TheScore as its new sales planner, esports.
Wilmer Weeink is promoted to the role of creative lead EU at Team Liquid.
Matthew Boyd has left Culture Genesis to join Riot Games as its new principal strategist for global League of Legends esports.
Roshan SN has left Garena India to rejoin The Esports Club as senior project manager.
Chris Roberts exits Activision to join Riot Games as head of events, global marketing.
CJ Young joins Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH as the new director of service operations.
Kim Meltzer joins Mobile Global Esports as managing director.
Gaming:
Rocksteady co-founders and studio heads Sefton Hill and Jamie Walker have left the company.
Chrissy Kelleher joins Netflix Games as manager of games communications.
Kevin Flynn, formerly of Esports Engine, has found a new home at Creative Assembly as brand director.
Jae Espinosa takes on the role of lead systems designer for Fallout 76 at Bethesda Game Studios.
Jacob Siegel joins Fortis Games as game designer/product intelligence.
Dan Butchko will step down as CEO of Playcrafting after more than eight-and-a-half years in the role.
Kim MacAskill will soon leave her role as narrative lead at Riot Games to join Playstation Savage as narrative director.
Eugene Seow starts a new job as senior live producer at Electronic Arts.
Andrew Ward has left his role as HQ senior producer at Ubisoft.
Daniele Falcone joins Stormind Games as CFO.
Shahzad Khan is no longer serving as product director at Wargaming.
Jakob Braunisch launched a new Berlin-based studio called MYSTiC GAMES and will serve as its COO.
Matt Nutt leaves his role as COO and head of games at Mythical.
George Osborn will be leaving his role as head of campaigns and communications at UK-based game industry trade group UKIE in early 2023.
Sagar Somani has been promoted to senior tester at GodSpeed Games.
Bethany Hulse joins Firewalk Studios/ProbablyMonsters as its new community development lead.
Ulas Karademir announced that he is leaving game engine developer Unity after more than seven years with the company. He most recently served as VP of internal productions.
Nathaniel Wattenmaker is promoted to director of brand management at Gearbox Publishing.
Thomas J. Labuzienski is promoted to marketing communications manager at Microsoft.
Besa Istrefi exits Remedy Entertainment to join Northern Stars (Pixel United) as an associate producer.
Rachael Althof leaves Xbox to join EA as lifecycle marketing project manager.
Other:
Tony Currie leaves Imagination to join UK-based Accenture Song as its creative director, metaverse.
Hisham Attar leaves his role as senior director of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to join Thara Investments as a managing partner.
Adam Rosenberg is no longer the VP of communications & digital marketing at Better Collective and is seeking opportunities.
Tammy Henault exits Paramount+ to join the NBA as chief marketing officer.
Jeff Jarrett joins All Elite Wrestling as director of business development and as an on-air talent.
Dean Smith joins Gamesight as head of European sales.
Former EBET Financial Controller Conor Dowling has found a new role at Afiniti as head of technical accounting and compliance.
Former Michigan State Representative and Sportradar Head of Government Affairs- U.S. Brandt Iden joins Fanatics as VP of government affairs.
Robert Klein will join IMG Media as managing director, head of global football in January.
Paul Shaw leaves TalentX Entertainment to join Night Media as a talent coordinator.
Lucy Maguire is promoted to senior trends editor at Vogue Business.
Reyna Marely Flores-Martinez takes on an additional role as venue management for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. She currently serves as senior tournaments manager at FIFA.
Luke Lancaster joins SXSW Sydney as the head of gaming.
Jimmy Goodman has taken on the role of sponsorship coordinator at the NFL.
In Other News
🐔 Elon Musk unveils Twitter subscription plan tied to verification…
👀 2022 The International is third most viewed in event’s history.
💪 Populous touts work on Butler Esports Hub.
🤔 Phil Spencer: regulator critique of Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition fair.
👋 Game newsie Nibellion leaves Twitter, says so long.