Matt Carroll joins Sports Interactive as COO

Sports Interactive has named Matt Carroll, a Disney veteran, as its first COO.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.Biz, studio boss Miles Jacobson joked: "A COO is something that [parent company] Sega has been telling me that I’ve needed for a few years now."

"I hadn’t agreed with them before. But we’ve grown. When we were bought by Sega there were 34 of us. Now there are 115."

Jacobson said that it was time for certain things to be professionalised, and Carroll’s appointment comes as part of a wider restructure across the company as Jacobson said he had become a ‘bottleneck’ for key decisions. The office is also moving to Here East, where the team will take a floor in a building with several sports and betting companies, including BT Sport.

Carroll is known primarily for a 17 year stint at Disney in a variety of senior management roles. Carroll’s experience is primarily in publishing, and has described the move to development as "an incredible opportunity."

"[Sports Interactive] has a lot of very good stuff here. It has very capable people, an incredible product and community that follows it. So anything that will be built will be built on strong foundations. But obviously the future will be changing, it will be more competitive, there will be new technologies, the world of football is changing. It is a moving feast. That’s exciting."

"A big part of my role is to create a great climate for performance, and to make sure people enjoy what they do. The new move… it’s a stunning location, and the facilities are wonderful. I think it will be the envy of the industry."

GamesIndustry.Biz have the full story, with more details from Jacobson and Carroll.