MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
In MCV’s weekly rundown of the hottest vacancies and latest personnel news, major execs from Zynga, Cave and OnLive move on to other ventures and we look at the best job opportunities.
KEY EXECS EXIT AMBITIOUS GAMES FIRMS
It’s been a week of departures as leading players at notable games firms such as social giant Zynga, acclaimed developer Cave and pioneering streaming service OnLive move on.
Earlier this week it was confirmed that the latter’s founder Steve Perlman is moving on after the firm went into emergency bankruptcy. Perlman will instead work on "his myriad of other projects" – click here for the full story.
Meanwhile, Zynga’s chief creative officer Mike Verdu has announced he will leave the firm to set up his own mobile studio. Verdu is the second exec to depart after COO John Schappert resigned earlier this month.
Finally, Ito Masahito – the CEO and president of renowned Japanese developer Cave – has resigned his position. He will be replaced the current chairman of the Board Kenichi Takano. You can read more about Cave’s ongoing struggles here.
JOBS IN GAMES SPECIAL
Don’t forget we’ll bepublishing a series of articles featuring advice on job hunting, career development and hiring new staff all next month.
Our Jobs In Games special, in association with leading agency OPM, will feature case studies, insight from agencies and HR, and career advice. It will cover all aspects of the UK games industry, including retail, publishing, development, distribution and the media.
The month-long series of articles will kick off from September 3rd, and that’s alongside our usual Weekly Jobs Update. Click here for more information.
There are many ways to get involved in this guide – contactJennie.Lane@intentmedia.co.ukto find out more.
Bookmark our dedicatedJobs in Games category, which will be updated every day.
And don’t forget you can follow up onTwitterandFacebookto find out more.
TOP FIVE VACANCES – week beginning August 27th, 2012
Meroncourt Europe – Sales Representatives
via OPM Recruitment – Business Development Manager, London, Mobile Games
via OPM Recruitment – Customer Services Manager, Germany, Videogames
via OPM Recruitment – Video editor needed at AAA Games Developer
via OPM Recruitment – Lead Audio Programmer, AAA franchise, London
For more vacancies,head to MCVUK.jobs
PERSONNEL NEWS
Eurogamer hires Future’s Maxwell
Future’s group publishing director of entertainment Simon Maxwell has joined the Eurogamer Network as its group publishing director.
Maxwell spent nine years at Future Publishing and managed leading brands in technology, sports, film and games markets including T3, Official Manchester United, Total Film, SFX, CVG, Games Radar, Edge, PC Gamer and the official titles for Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony.
"We’re delighted to welcome Simon to the company and strengthen our management team in this way," said managing director of Eurogamer, Rupert Loma.
"He brings excellent experience in a broad range of entertainment markets as well as great industry contacts and pedigree in building multi-platform brands."
Video experts found Outside Xbox
Three popular journalists have teamed up with Eurogamer to launch a new Xbox-focused website named Outside Xbox.
These hires include former Inside Xbox presenter Andy Farrant, Gamespot UK’s Jane Douglas and Mike Channell from OXM.
"Andy, Jane and I have long been admirers of Eurogamer and its team, so we’re enormously excited to be launching Outside Xbox within the Eurogamer Network," said Channell.
"Outside Xbox videos will be innovative, visceral and offer best-in-class jokes about the homogeneity of developer soundbites."
Rockstar boss joins Activision Mobile
The former head of Rockstar Leeds has joined Activision’s new mobile studio as its COO.
The new studio, named The Blast Furnace, will be led by Gordon Hall alongside the former head of Rockstar London, Mark Washbrook.
The two of them will focus on developing ‘triple-A interactive experiences’ for the mobile space. Hall’s career in games began when he founded Mobius in 1996. Seven years later he sold the company to Rockstar, and it was renamed Rockstar Leeds.
Mark Washbrook was the studio head of Rockstar London from September 2005 to February 2011, and was previously the studio manager of Kuju London.
