RECRUITMENT Ins and Outs: Industry hires and moves 1 3 3


5 Dlala Studios has hired STEVIE COLE as its new senior character artist. We don’t know what the studio is currently working on, but Stevie has held a variety of games art related job roles in the past, at studios like Sega Hardlight, Playtonic Games and Rare, so we’re sure it’s exciting. Stevie also taught art for a bit at Weston College & University.


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1 EMMA McDONALD has been named the new COO of Newzoo. Emma started at Newzoo eleven years ago as a data analyst and worked up to the director of marketing role, which she has held for the past seven years. In her time, she has supported games industry clients, including Facebook, Amazon, and YouTube. She recently earned her MBA at IE Business School.


2 Over at Diva, LIBBY WALKER has been promoted to client brand director. She’s been at Diva for four and a half years, but has spent over ten years in marketing and branding. She’s now taking the lead on new business initiatives and develops new products and services to meet clients' changing needs in their markets.


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3 Also promoted over at Diva is JACK DAVIS, who is now client partnerships director. He’s been at Diva for over five years, and looks after big global accounts for PlayStation and Activision. In his new role he intends to improve client relationships so that Diva can continue to provide the best quality of service possible for its partners.


4 RON ASHTIANI is the new chair of the board of directors at Nequinox Studios. Ron brings 25 years of experience with him to the near-Manchester studio, and you might recognise him from his time at Atomhawk, or for his time as chair of the board at SockMonkey Studios. You might also be interested in a small indie project he worked on called the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Anyone heard of that?


6 SAMRA TANGESTANIAN has joined the team over at Wushu Studios, where she’s the principal cinematic designer. Samra’s first role in the industry was at Digital Extremes in 2012, contributing to Warframe. Later, she moved to the UK to work with Creative Assembly's marketing team as a cinematic artist, creating assets for trailers. Since then, she's been involved in marketing projects for games like Suicide Squad, Shadow Warrior III, and The Quarry.


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7 Also at Wushu Studios is VLADIMIR YUDIN, who is the latest principal technical artist to become part of the staff. With around 20 years of experience in the game industry, Vlad has collaborated with teams at Sony, Disney, Microsoft, EA, and Improbable. He has also ventured into the interactive and production industry, working with companies like Framestore, Imagination, and Happy Finish.


8 PASQUAL BATALLA has joined the team at Sandsoft Games as its new chief operating officer. He was previously COO of SocialPoint, a Spanish mobile games company owned by Take Two Interactive, which is known in the space for games like Social Empires, Dragon City, Tasty Town and Word Life.


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6 32 | MCV/DEVELOP October/November 2023


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