KARLSRUHE, Germany - May 17, 2011 - Gameforge AG, Europe's leading publisher and developer of free-to-play online games, today announced the appointment of Dan Kelly as Chief Business Officer of Gameforge Group, and Managing Director of Gameforge Productions GmbH. For the past year Kelly, an industry veteran with more than 15 years of experience, has served as a consultant for Gameforge across several critical business areas. In his new role he will be responsible for strategy, corporate and business development, portfolio planning, and managing Gameforge's portal site, Gameforge.com. He and Alexander Rösner, the CEO and founder, will co-manage publishing and marketing.
Before joining Gameforge, Dan Kelly was CEO of Bleacher Report, a premiere sports website, and the startup, Sparter Inc. Prior to that, Kelly served as senior vice president of business development for THQ where, as a member of the executive management team, he was responsible for building out THQ's portfolio of original titles and expanding the internal studio network. He also held executive positions with The Walt Disney Company and the television production company Cartoon Pizza. Kelly earned his bachelor of science in engineering and economics from Vanderbilt University and his master of business administration in finance and marketing from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
"We are delighted to have Dan aboard and are impressed with his track record in the games industry, as well as his great work at Gameforge so far. We look forward to him playing an even more important role in our expanding business," said Alexander Rösner, CEO and Founder of Gameforge.
Dan Kelly stated, "I am very excited to continue working with the terrific team of professionals at Gameforge. As a pure-play, early entrant in free-to-play games, and with substantial operations already in place, Gameforge is superbly positioned to continue expanding as a market leader."
About Gameforge
Gameforge is Europe's leading provider of free-to-play online games. Located in Karlsruhe, Germany, Gameforge currently offers 20 games in more than 50 languages and has 200 million registered users worldwide. The portfolio includes two types of games: client-based massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, among them Europe's MMO Metin2, Gates of Andaron, and the European version of Wizard101; as well as premium browser-based games like the award-winning Ikariam, OGame and the upcoming Star Trek: Infinite Space. Gameforge currently employs more 450 staff member in its Karlsruhe headquarters. In 2010, Gameforge was awarded "TOP JOB Employer of the Year" and was titled one of the best employers of 2010 by the Great Place to Work® Institute of Germany.
For more information about the company, please visit: http://corporate.gameforge.com
For more information about our games, please visit: http://www.gameforge.com
Media Contacts
Gameforge Productions GmbH
Gunnar Lott
Tel +49 (0)721 354 808-216
Bender/Helper Impact
Marion Wallace
310.694.3151
