Generation Esports Quietly Lays Off a Handful of Employees
As company announces new deal with Playfy Esports it has laid off 15 - 20 people, according to a source.
This week is a little light for personnel moves, so we’ve added a breaking (and i’m pretty sure exclusive) story about layoffs hitting scholastics esports company Generation Esports. If you have some open positions right now, please consider hiring those people that have been affected.
Now let’s get into this week’s biggest moves in esports and gaming! - James Fudge.
Generation Esports Quietly Lays Off a Handful of Employees
Even as scholastic esports company Generation Esports (owner of High School Esports League, or HSEL) announced that it had signed a partnership with Playfy Esports to "operate and service Playfly Esports high school state association partners," the company quietly laid off a handful of employees on Wednesday.
One of those employees is Willow Onken, who joined Generation Esports only a few months ago to help the company as a copywriter. Also affected by the layoffs is Ian Everitt, who announced on LinkedIn that he was looking for new opportunities. Everitt worked as a junior full stack engineer for seven months at the company.
We could not identify other employees that were laid off at the time of this writing, but a person familiar with the situation tells us that there are at least two more that were let go at around the same time as Everitt and Onken. Another source familiar with the situation puts the number of layoffs at somewhere between 15 - 20 employees.
We reached out to Generation Esports and its co-founder Mason Mullenioux for comment prior to publishing this story. A spokesperson told us Wednesday afternoon that there was no correlation between the announcement and the layoffs, chalking it up to coincidental timing and that these reductions in staff are part of an effort “to do what’s best for the business's future.”
People on the Move
Here is this week’s list of promotions, hires, and departures in the gaming/esports industry:
Esports:
Max Sabido has left Co-op Mode Communications to join TiMi Studio Group as its new global community lead. Sabido spent more than six years at Riot Games and nearly three years at Squad Gaming, where he served as a producer on Kerbal Space Program.
Ohm Srukhosit formally announces a position he took on a "few months ago" at Riot Games: head of competitive operations for Valorant global esports.
Hauk Nelson leaves his role as blockchain strategy and development lead at NRG Esports to join sister company Ader as manager of growth.
Firas Khalfaoui joins Abu Dhabi-based Pixoul Gaming as its new head of esports.
Sze Yean Lee leaves EVOS Esports after more than two-and-half-years at the company.
Kim Yeung exits Riot Games after more than nine years.
Shawn Buell joins the program operations team at Esports Engine.
Alex "Cherry" Chiricosta is promoted to the role of senior program manager of Twitch Rivals at Twitch.
Zeina Zaki joins Galaxy Racer as its new social media executive.
Gev Akopyan leaves his role as marketing lead at Riot Games.
Jeff Simpkins is promoted to the role of chief operating officer at UK-based esports organization Resolve Esports.
Gaming:
Leah B. Jackson's contract with Sony as a program manager has come to an end and is open to new opportunities. Jackson has worked for IGN, G4, Riot Games, and GameSpot in the past.
Morgan Sean Gibbs joins Activision Blizzard as its new senior developer operations engineer.
Klaudiusz Zych exits People Can Fly to join Activision Blizzard (Warsaw) as its new senior principal programmer.
Erin Dyer is promoted to the role of gameplay coordinator at Epic Games.
Jeffrey Brock is promoted to the role of senior engineering manager at Riot Games.
Chris Fitts is promoted to senior director of marketing creative at Gearbox Publishing.
Audrey Axt joins Riot Games as a concept artist for Legends of Runeterra.
John Carpenter joins Riot Games as a technical producer.
Chris Leggett joins Amazon Games as its new PR manager.
Wendy Wu joins Discord as its new managing counsel, commercial.
Esports Entertainment Group Marketing Director Magnus Leppaniemi leaves the company.
Loic Olichon tackles the new role of senior manager of EMEA territory PR at Activision Blizzard.
Yael Teboulle launches Rainbow Factory and takes on the role of CEO.
Other:
Jordan Chude Williams is promoted to senior artist account manager at Twitch.
Geoff Ralston will step down from his role as president and CEO of Y Combinator at the end of this year. He will be replaced by Garry Tan.
Andrew Lilien leaves Turtle Beach to join Mastercard as VP of global consumer marketing.
Charlotte Kenny is promoted to PR Manager at Honest (a video game focused PR firm).
David Rumsey is promoted to newsletter editor at SportTechie (a Sports Business Journal publication).
Andrea Nieto Perilla exits Adidas to join WAGMI United as creative director.
In Other News
💪 Hiring in the U.S. was 6.5% higher in August compared to July.
🙏 The American Red Cross challenges the gaming community to support disaster relief through the power of esports!
😎 J. Cole becomes the very first rapper to land an NBA 2K cover.
🙄 UK Antitrust agency gets facts about Microsoft-Activision Blizzard deal wrong - report.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated with comments from Generation Esports and more detailed information from an additonal source.
Want to highlight your latest hire? Looking to promote a new job opening? Drop me a line at jamesbfudge@gmail.com with the subject line “People on the Move.”