Paris steps in as Fortescue departs and Donald takes maternity leave Activision Blizzard names new CFO Veteran journalist Nylund becomes editor of MCV Nordic
Bigben Interactive
& RDS Industries delivering the best in Licensed Accessories!
ACTIVISION l The publisher has reshuffled its PR team. LUCY DONALD (far left) went on maternity leave last Friday (March 9th). ADAM PARIS will step in as head of PR for UK and Ireland on March 26th during her absence. Meanwhile, associate PR manager CHARLIE FORTESCUE (left) has left the
company after almost three years.
“I will truly miss all of you whilst I’m away,” said Donald. “This industry is such a close-knit, friendly place to be and it feels very strange to be going ‘out of the loop’, even though it’s only for a short time. “I plan to return once I have settled into the joys of parenthood and I will look forward to keeping a close eye on the industry whilst I’m away.”
ACTIVISION BLIZZARD l Meanwhile, DENNIS DURKIN (left) has been named chief financial officer of Activision’s US parent. He steps in to replace THOMAS TIPPL who has served as interim CFO since 2010. Tippl will now work as COO full time. Durkin has been at Microsoft since 1999. During his time as chief operating and financial officer of the firm’s interactive entertainment division, he helped turn the loss-making
business to generate over $1bn in annual profit, make Xbox 360 the No.1 console and saw Xbox Live gain 40m members.
“I am thrilled to join the talented team at Activision Blizzard, which has an incredible track record of consistent success,” said Durkin. “With the expansion of digital entertainment, this is an exciting time to partner with the company's senior leaders to continue to drive future growth.”
INTENT MEDIA l The MCVpublisher has hired MATS NYLUND (left) as editor of MCV Nordic, a new business site for the Nordic games community.
He has written about games since 1997. Nylund has
worked as a freelancer and as a full time editor at Swedish PC Gamer and Super Playmagazines. Additionally, CHRISTER ENGSTROM will handle commercial development for the site. He launched the first games TV channel in Sweden and hosts the local annual trade awards. MCV Nordiclaunched on March 12th. It covers Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland and addresses all aspects of the industry, including retail, publishing and distribution to development of iOS, mobile and browser games.
EUTECHNYX l DIRK WEYEL has been appointed non- executive director and member of the developer’s board. The co-founder and COO of online publisher Frogster Interactive will oversee the launch of Auto Club Revolutionat Eutechnyx, and establish global publishing operations.