Outspark - Additions to the Executive Team
Recently, Outspark announced that it added two members to its executive team. Aaron Burcell will be Vice President of Marketing and Steve Sims will be Vice President of Product Management. Burcell will oversee all marketing campaigns, brand management and corporate and public relations while Sims will oversee new product acquisition and development as well as continued development of Outspark’s platform, customer support and services.
“Outspark continues to grow each year, expanding both our external audience and the internal teams needed to bring excellent service to our community,” said Susan Choe, chief executive officer, Outspark. “Aaron and Steve have the skills and talents needed to continue our expansion as well as develop new directions and possibilities for our business.”
Burcell started in marketing communications and production at WebTV soon after graduating from Stanford University. He served as vice president of marketing at Jangl, was one of the first five employees at PodShow (now Mevio), and was also a co-founder and partner at Alterlayer, a seed-stage firm that incubated and invested in digital media and communications startups. Burcell was most recently at Gazillion Entertainment, where he launched the SmartyCard online educational game.
Sims has experience in mobile, online and console gaming to manage the various game title publishing efforts at the company, including live game monetization and production. He started his career as an engineer at Philips Interactive Media, working on consumer focused interactive media. Sims spent nearly a decade producing and developing some of the most well-known game franchises at Electronic Arts, including Madden football titles. He has also been director of operations for Gemini Mobile Technologies, managing the end-to-end design, production and deployment of Motropolis and he managed the enthusiast segment of the GeForce family of 3D graphics card products for Nvidia.
MTV Games - David Walker
MCV confirmed this past week that MTV Games has hired David Walker. He will be the new sales director of the international sales team.
Walker has 15 years experience in the industry. He's worked for 505 Games, Atari and most recently CDV.
Republic of Fun - Darrell Rodriguez
Republic of Fun announced recently that former LucasArts president Darrell Rodriguez has been appointed to their Board of Directions.
“Darrell brings a wealth of knowledge and deep insight into games as well as the online and eCommerce space and will undoubtedly be a valuable addition to our Board,” stated Mike Rasmussen, president of Republic of Fun. “We share a passion for casual gaming and providing the masses with the ability to let their creative voice be heard, Darrell understands the space and his leadership will be a great resource in helping us achieve our vision."
Rodriguez has over 20 years working in the gaming industry, having held executive leadership positions at Disney, Electronic Arts and Earthlink. While he served as LucasArts president recently he led the growth of the video game company and was responsible for developing and executing the company’s long-term growth strategies, including making such popular award-winning games as The Force Unleashed, Monkey Island Special Edition and restarting their new IP efforts with the launch of Lucidity.
“Social gaming is one of the biggest drivers of the explosive growth in social media and Republic of Fun is getting it right by empowering the people that are passionate about games to have a say in which games they get to play,” said Rodriguez. “I feel privileged to join this exciting and dynamic team and look forward to working with Mike and the Board during the next phase of the company’s growth.”
Just A Game - Christian Sauerteig
Newly founded Berlin-based publisher Just A Game recently announced that Christian Sauerteig will be Director of Marketing & Sales. He will be responsible for all national and international marketing and sales activities of the license and trade business.
“In order to achieve our ambitious goal, we entrusted Christian Sauerteig with the responsible position of Director Marketing & Sales,” said Remco Westermann, CEO of Just A Game GmbH and managing director of Bob Mobile AG. “In the past, Sauerteig did an expert job, has excellent sales experience and an exceptional national and international network of contacts, so I am sure we are well prepared for the future.”
Sauerteig held a similar position at the international publisher TGC – The Games Company Worldwide GmbH, and has over14 years of experience in the game industry.
“I am very happy about the trust placed in me and the extremely exciting challenge,” said Sauerteig. “With a strong partner like the Bob Mobile AG backing us, we are perfectly positioned right from the start, so we can celebrate our first releases already this year.”
Tecmo Koei America - Vincent Slaven
Vincent Slaven announced this past week that he was leaving Porter Novelli. He will join Tecmo Koei America as public relations manager.
“If you’re receiving this message, it’s because I’ve had the good fortune of working with you during my past couple of years at Porter Novelli,” wrote Slaven. “I’ve had a wonderful time working with you for Sony PlayStation and Wizards of the Coast, but this is my last week here at Porter Novelli.”
“I’ll be moving on to work as a public relations manager for Tecmo Koei America, starting on August 23,” he added. “If you have ever found yourself needing a reliable PR contact for Tecmo or Koei games, no longer shall you need [to worry].”
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