High-Profile Esports Exec Che Chou Leaves Ubisoft
Senior director of Rainbow Six esports jumps to NetEase.
The top story of the week: Esports industry veteran Che Chou has left Ubisoft to join the North American division of Chinese game developer publisher NetEase Games as its new global publishing / brand expert. In his new role, Chou will take charge of global brand strategies for the company's deep portfolio of PC and mobile titles.
Chou spent three years and eight months at Ubisoft where he served as the senior director of Rainbow Six Siege esports for Latin America, North America, Europe, and APAC. Prior to that he led esports efforts for Hearthstone at Blizzard, and Halo esports for Microsoft-owned developer 343 Industries. Prior to joining the gaming industry, Chou worked as editor on such Ziff Davis games publications as EGM, XBN, and 1UP.com.
Bonus: layoffs have hit EBET (formerly known as Esports Technologies)—learn more in today’s edition of Sharpr (read our newsletter first, please).
Now, let’s get into the rest of this week’s biggest moves in esports and gaming! - James Fudge.
Movers & Shakers
Veteran gaming executive Ric Neil has left game engine platform Unity Technologies to join Streamline Media Group as its new managing director. Neil has been working in the video game industry since 1989, serving in various roles at Electronic Arts, Konami, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox, Glu Mobile, and Amazon Game Studios.
After nearly two years working at Twitch as a lead on influencer relations & brand partnerships, Ben Lindemer has signed with New York-based talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME) as its new agent in digital media (esports and gaming).
John Carpenter exits Blizzard Entertainment after more than four years at the company, leaving behind his product manager role to join Riot Games as its new technical producer II. Carpenter has spent the majority of his career at Blizzard: he joined the company as a game tester in 2008, eventually being promoted to the QA team after only eight months. From there he served in various roles at the company including QA analyst II, test lead II (on game tools), associate program manager, product manager, and senior product manager.
Kunal Lanjewar has left thatgamecompany after more than two years to join Riot Games as staff software engineer - Valorant Core Services. Before joining thatgamecompany, Lanjewar spent time at Circle Media Labs (working with Disney), and nearly three years at NASA in multiple roles.
Uyen Uyen Ton Nu announced that she has resigned from her role as VP of marketing at Vainglory maker Super Evil Megacorp after more than eight years at the company. She also revealed that she has officially joined PlayStation as its new senior director, head of mobile marketing for the Sony game console division.
People on the Move
Here is this week’s list of promotions, hires, and departures in the gaming/esports industry:
Esports:
Ashley Pinney is promoted to VP of marketing communications at Wisdom Gaming.
Paige Marcinek leaves Nerd Street to take on the role of global digital marketing for Web3 & emerging technologies at Mastercard.
Former 100 Thieves Head of Revenue & Platform Operations Mattie Van Schoor Aikma joins Los Angeles-based creator company JellySmack as VP of platform operations & strategy.
Zachary Lange is no longer in the role of social media manager (esports) at 100 Thieves. Lange said on social media that he'll take a short break before announcing his next endeavor.
Abdennour Aktouf has left Galaxy Racer and his role as the head of gaming/marketing and influencer department.
Jonathan Hunter is promoted to the role of lead recruiter EMEA at PUBG Corporation (Amsterdam).
Dimitri Vallette leaves Shanghai-based Red Marble Esports to take on the role of international business development manager at Mineski Global (Indonesia).
Gaming:
Zackary Frankel leaves Warner Bros. Discovery to join GTA maker Rockstar Games as its new product manager.
Dain Victory joins Riot Games as a graphic designer.
Prisha Gellaboina leaves her role at Need For Speed maker Criterion Games to join Unity Technologies as a software engineer.
Simon Ward is promoted to associate producer at Rocksteady Studios.
Joshua Nadel is promoted to the role of game designer at Blizzard.
Alyssa Cariaso is promoted to the role of program manager I at PlayStation.
Kelly Huang takes on the role of assistant manager, public relations at Nintendo of America.
Sparth Nicolas Bouvier leaves Microsoft to join Team Kaiju as senior art director.
Katherine Heacock joins Gearbox Entertainment as its new associate narrative producer.
Lea H. is promoted to the role of social media & community manager at Tencent Games (Berlin).
Josh Silverman joins game developer Studio Black Flag as senior community manager.
Other:
Kelly Duroncelet leaves her role at Geffen Records to join Discord as its new music lead - entertainment partnerships.
Mandie Meier is named talent coordinator for esports and gaming at Underscore Talent.
David Sias has been promoted to supervising producer at Freaks 4U Gaming.
James McMath exits Luckbox to join Midnite as head of communications.
Former HP executive Joanna Popper joins Creative Artists Agency (CAA) as the new chief metaverse officer.
Andrew Hayward has been promoted to culture editor at DeCrypt.
Jamie Davidson leaves Fnatic to join SPORTFIVE to lead esports partnerships (as well as gaming & metaverse).
Jasmine Chiang leaves her job as global marketing manager for gaming and esports at Lenovo to join PDP as its manager of influencers & partnerships.
Lou Hong joins SensorTower as its new VP of marketing and insights.
Michael Barden, Kristen Reid, and Roman Matsukatov were laid off at EBET. Bart Barden will leave EBET in February of 2023, according to an SEC filing.
In Other News
⚽ Gamers love watching and betting on sports, according NRG Insights.
🤥 Are remote workers lying about who is doing their work?
🛠 OTK Media is trying its hand at building and selling gaming PCs.
👩🏼🤝👩🏻 The gender pay gap starts early for women.
🏫 Erin Ashley Simon grows the Erin Ashley Simon Esports Internship Fund at the University of Kentucky with donations from XSET.
🧓 Former TSM League of Legends pro Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon announces his retirement.
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.”