Want to know who the video games industry’s hottest young talents are? Look no further: MCV provides its annual guide to some of the UK’s brightest young rising stars from publishing, the media, distribution, retail and more
TOM GOLDBERGER Age: 28
UK Mobile PR Manager, Electronic Arts
GOLDBERGER has worked at EA since March 2010, first serving as publicist for the publisher’s shooters. He was key in getting Battlefield 3 featured at The Gadget Show and arranging for tanks to invade Oxford Street when the game launched. He has also helped launch recent Need for Speedentries Hot Pursuit and The Run, as well as EA partner titles. As of this month, he now looks after the company’s growing mobile games portfolio.
DANIEL KRUPA Age: 25 Games Writer, IGN UK
PRIMARILY responsible for games reviews, Krupa has quickly made a name for himself in his first 18 months at IGN. His reviews of titles such as Max Payne 3 and FIFA 13 have racked up in excess of 1.5m views on IGN.com, and other features – such as a FIFA 13 Livestream with England star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – have been well received. Krupa even put his body on the line in the name of games journalism, suffering multiple leg fractures after a sliding tackle went wrong during an EA press event.
HOLLIE BENNETT Age: 25 Consumer and Community PR Executive, Namco Bandai
BENNETT has only been in PR for a year, but has already won over countless peers and consumers with her passion for all things gaming. She has found imaginative ways to get Namco Bandai’s community involved, drawing from the direct-to- consumer experience gained from her time at Destructoid. Bennett has greatly increased the publisher’s community presence, spreading the word about its upcoming games to not only UK gamers, but others around the world. “Also, she has nice hair,” one contributor added.
SARAH STALLARD Age: 28
District Development Manager – Bullring, GAME
STALLARD began her career at GAME in 2006 as senior sales assistant, and has since helped develop one of the chain’s flagship stores. She helped turn the underperforming Birmingham Bullring outfit into one of the chain’s Top Five in terms of turnover. She was named both Manager of the Year and Pre-owned Manager of the Year in her region last year. Stallard even helped accommodate staff that lost their jobs when GAME entered administration back in March.
JAMES DANCE Age: 26 Director, Loading
30 November 2nd 2012
TWO years ago, Loading was a largely unknown independent gaming café in Cornwall. Now, it regularly grabs headlines for its work with publishing heavyweights like EA, Ubisoft, Sega, Square Enix and Capcom. All this is thanks to founder James Dance, who describes himself as “a veteran of operating on a non-existing budget”. He is currently seeking crowd-funding to start a London branch.
JOSH WALKER Age: 25
UK Product Manager, SCEE
HAVING joined SCEE in 2010, Walker has worked his way up to UK product manager and handles some of Sony’s most cherished franchises such as LittleBigPlanet. He spent time at the European office before moving to the UK product marketing team in June. He is currently polishing off the campaigns behind LittleBigPlanet Kartingand PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, as well as laying the groundwork for hotly anticipated 2013 titles God of War: Ascensionand The Last of Us.