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Part of the All-Girl Team of Gamers-The Frag Dolls- Hattabaugh Comes Aboard the Warrior Epic Team As It Prepares For Its Upcoming Launch

True Games added a new member to its growing Warrior Epic team; Community Liaison, Brooke Hattabaugh. Ms. Hattabaugh is one of the founding members of Ubisoft Entertainment’s Frag Dolls, a highly-skilled group of professional female gamers who compete nationally in professional tournaments and are responsible for promoting the games and presence of women in the gaming industry.

“Brooke Hattabaugh is an enormous asset to the Warrior Epic team,” said CEO Bob Drobish. “Her extensive gaming knowledge and abilities and her knack for generating interest and excitement and fostering relationships in gaming communities, are a perfect fit for the Warrior
Epic community.”

As Community Liaison, Hattabaugh is charged with cultivating an active online community for Warrior Epic www.warriorepic.com, officially moderating all game related public forums and creating an extensive online presence for the game and the company. Hattabaugh brings more than six years experience in the areas of participating in and managing online gaming forums, community feedback and public speaking appearances at gaming conventions.

“I can’t wait to start developing a relationship with the Warrior Epic community,” said Hattabaugh. “Working with the community is vital to making a good game into a great game. Listening to the community feedback will play a vital role in the success of Warrior Epic, and as the voice for the community, my promise to them is that their feedback will never go unheard.”

Prior to joining True Games, her duties as a highly-recognized Frag Doll included attending and competing in various professional game competitions and industry trade shows, speaking engagements, participating in many on-camera interviews for various national and international print and TV media outlets and was also responsible for organizing community events, both live and online.

Former Radical Chief Joins Hothead Crew

Hothead Games announced today the appointment of former Radical Entertainment president and CEO Ian Wilkinson as the company’s new president and CEO, effective immediately. Wilkinson oversaw Radical’s growth from a startup company to an established industry player and ultimately sold the company to Vivendi Games, which merged with Activision last year.

As part of the change, former Hothead Games president and CEO Vlad Ceraldi will become director of game development and Joel DeYoung will move from COO to director of game technology. “My passion is making great games and my new role will allow me to focus on just that,” commented Ceraldi. “I worked for Ian at Radical and felt that his business leadership would be a huge boon for Hothead. I was very excited when he accepted our invitation to join the team.”

“I have worked with both Joel and Vlad before. We made some fantastic games that were multi-million sellers such as The Simpsons Hit & Run and The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction,” stated Wilkinson. “I have already rolled up my sleeves and I am very excited to be back in the industry. I know that together, along with the outstanding team assembled at Hothead with Ron Gilbert and others, we will become one of the great game creators in the world.”

Neil Alphonso to oversee level design for studio’s new AAA title.

London, England – 10th March 2009 – Splash Damage today announced that Neil Alphonso has joined the company to head up its level design team for the studio’s AAA multi-platform title in development. Neil comes to Splash Damage from Guerrilla Games where he worked on the PlayStation®3 hit Killzone^TM 2 as Lead Level Designer.

Neil is the latest high-profile hire at the London-based studio, which has doubled its development team in the past 12 months – a direct result of the immensely successful recruitment drive that followed its announcement of a partnership with Bethesda Softworks, developers and publishers of the recent blockbuster, Fallout® 3.

“The Splash Damage guys know how to build great multiplayer experiences that are a cut above most of what is available today,” said Neil Alphonso. “Their refined approach is even more appealing to me as a Lead Level Designer, and provides an excellent base for me to push on into the frontiers of gaming.”

“I love Neil’s considerable focus on advancing our players’ experience, born-out by his refined design talent and stunning accumulation of knowledge while working on games such as Killzone 2 and Splinter Cell,” said Paul Wedgwood, Owner of Splash Damage. “He’s the perfect man to lead our team of really skilled Level Designers. I can’t wait for our fans to see what he and his team are working on.”

Neil joins Splash Damage with over seven years of multi-platform development experience, spanning Xbox®, PlayStation, and PC. He began his career designing environments for the critically acclaimed Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell®, and then served as Level Designer on Duke Nukem Forever^TM at 3DRealms before achieving the lofty post of Lead Level Designer on Killzone 2 at Guerilla Games in 2007.

Splash Damage is currently looking to fill additional positions in art, design, and programming fields. A complete list is available at www.splashdamage.com/jobs.

Alten8 Media Group – Steve Goodwin appointed as Head of Skull Monkey Games

Skull Monkey Games the (new IP) development arm of the Alten8 Media Group, is pleased to confirm the appointment of Steve Goodwin as the new Head Of Development.

Steven Goodwin (London, England) has been in the game industry for over 14 years, progressing from Windows programmer to lead and management roles on console platforms such as the PS2, GameCube, and Xbox. During his time, he was responsible for seven major titles, including the #1 selling Die Hard: Vendetta, which appeared on all three of the above platforms.

Previously a senior engineer at Glu Mobile – writing tools, technology, and game engines. He is also the architect of the SGX Engine, a major cross-platform game engine and tool chain, which forms a key role in the Alten8 development strategy.

As an author he has written two industry-standard textbooks “Cross-Platform Games Programming”, and “The Game Developer’s Open Source Handbook” for Charles River Media, and over 50 articles covering programming, management and open source.

Paul Andrews, CEO of Alten8 said – We are very pleased to have Steve heading up the Skull Monkey (new IP) development division here are Alten8, not only is he bringing with him his years of experience, but also crucially his SGX engine, which will be the core of many of our games moving forward. Steve will also be working to build up the team here in Luton, as we move forward working on at least 6 TV / Film branded IP’s to be announced soon, as well as other Alten8 internally developed IP’s.

Keynote and session line-up announced for Game Career Seminar at E-for-All!

Keynote and session line-up announced for Game Career Seminar at E-for-All!

Game Career Seminar, powered by the Game Developers Conference is returning to E-for-All! With a collaborative keynote and interactive sessions, this is set to be the best yet. Start with a keynote session of Andy Schatz of Pocketwatch Games and Dan Paladin of The Behemoth showing different design sensibilities in the game designing process, learn how to create a game industry resume and how loving your inner geek can lead to finding the right game career for you, this will be an event you won’t want to miss!

Register now and break into the game industry today!

ZeniMax Online Studios Recruiting at
Austin Game Developer Conference

September 11, 2008 (Hunt Valley, MD) – ZeniMax® Online Studios, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that it will be recruiting talented game professionals at the upcoming Austin Game Developer Conference. The show will run September 15-18 at the Austin, TX convention center.

“If you are an industry professional who wants to help create the quintessential MMOG, then we want to talk with you,” said ZeniMax Online president, Matt Firor. ZeniMax Online will be meeting with potential employees with experience in game development – Art, Programming, Design, Server Technology, Customer Support, QA and Marketing.

ZeniMax Online, located in beautiful Hunt Valley, Maryland, is the sister company of Bethesda Softworks® – the developer and publisher of megahits such as The Elder Scrolls® series and the highly anticipated Fallout® 3, which is launching worldwide this Fall.

The ZeniMax Online team will be in booth 100 on the conference show floor. People interested in joining this world class online game development studio are invited to stop by to discuss employment opportunities.

“We’re hard at work creating the next big MMOG – one that will challenge the current market leaders – and are looking for talented developers to add to the team,” added Firor. “Austin is known in the online gaming industry as a hub of talent – the perfect place for us to find experienced professionals.”

For those who can’t make it to Austin GDC, but are still interested in positions on the team, please go to www.zenimaxonline.com for a complete listing of employment opportunities.

ZeniMax Online is headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, a major east coast hub of game development just north of Baltimore that includes Firaxis, Big Huge Games, Breakaway, LTD, and Day 1 Studios. Also located in the Washington-Baltimore technology corridor are Bethesda Softworks and Mythic Entertainment.

For more information, visit www.zenimaxonline.com.

Bristol, 2nd September, 2008 – SN Systems, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI), are pleased to announce the opening of a new satellite office in Dublin, Ireland. Based in the centre of the city, the new Dublin office will be lead by Matt Bush, an SN Systems veteran with nine years’ experience working on all PlayStation® platforms. The main focus of the office will be research and development for the ProDG development tools, the standard programming tools for all PlayStation hardware.

Andy Beveridge, SN Systems Director added “As part of the on-going development process we’re finding that in order to recruit the most talented staff, we need to have offices in numerous locations. Last year we opened our first US office in San Jose, California and this year it’s Dublin. Both offices will grow in numbers quite rapidly as we plan to recruit more staff to cope with the demand of supporting PlayStation game title developers worldwide. However, the Bristol office will still be our Headquarters and main focal point. To accommodate our growth, we’ll be moving to a larger office later this year”.

The new Dublin office reflects the overall expansion of SN Systems and will result in the creation of a number of new positions within the company.

If you think you have the right skills and experience to join our talented team, please send your CV and a covering letter indicating how you can contribute to SN Systems Limited to hr@snsys.com.

For further information on SN Systems please visitwww.snsys.com

Game and Media Industry Veterans Add Fuel To Leading In-Game Advertising Company’s Explosive Growth

SAN FRANCISCO – August 18, 2008 – Leading independent in-game advertising company Double Fusion has strengthened its management team with a notable promotion and two new hires in finance and business development.

Julie Shumaker, Double Fusion’s current Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, will now oversee Double Fusion’s newly formed Core Games Group as its general manager, adding to her executive responsibilities over advertising sales. In this expanded role, Shumaker will oversee publisher partnerships across the core video game segment.

Glen Sussman, formerly CFO and COO of GameTrust, has joined the Double Fusion team as Chief Financial Officer; and Joshua Larson, former Vice President of Games at CNET Networks, has been brought on as the Vice President of Business Development.

The additions point to Double Fusion’s steadfast commitment towards solidifying the company’s strong relationships with game publishers and advertisers and the company’s continued success at building a world class in-game advertising network comprised of games for everyone across all genres and consumer segments.

“Julie, Josh and Glen all have unique and diverse backgrounds, but traits they all share are a love of games and a history of strong results and success in their prior roles,” says Jonathan Epstein, Double Fusion’s President and CEO. “Double Fusion prides itself on its world class technology, but it is our stellar team that brings the experience and dedication that has propelled Double Fusion to its status as the leading independent in the sector.”

Shumaker joined the company in the fall of 2006, and has subsequently built Double Fusion’s sales organization into a worldwide team generating revenues for publishers and game portal partners across varied game formats across multiple genres and platforms. Prior to her new position as General Manager and recent position SVP of Sales and Marketing, Julie was Electronic Arts’ National Director of Videogame Advertising. During her five years at EA, Julie increased year-on-year revenues by over 60%. In addition, she has the distinction of having put together the industry’s first ever seven-figure product placement deals, attracting international corporations such as McDonalds and Intel.

Sussman is coming on as CEO of Double Fusion just as the company embarks upon a double-digit revenue growth and multi-year expansion. Glen is responsible for the overall financial organization of the company, including reporting, accounting, budgeting, strategic planning, and capital structure, and also oversees all HR, facilities and general administrative functions. While at Game Trust, Sussman steered the company into being the leading provider of casual games communities and affinity platforms, while also increasing revenues and reducing operating expenses. Prior to Game Trust, Sussman closed over $30 million in lead venture capital transactions with Sandler Capital Management. Glen graduated from Wharton in 1997, garnering the prestigious Joseph Wharton Scholar and Benjamin Franklin Scholar honors.

Larson joins the Double Fusion team as the Vice President of Business Development, where he is charged with expanding the network of core games Double Fusion represents via partnerships with game publishers, developers and first party platforms in North America and Europe, including the recently announced Double Fusion in-game advertising partnership with PLAYSTATION®3. Before coming to Double Fusion, Josh was VP of Games at CNET Networks, where he created and executed business strategy and product direction for GameSpot.com, ushering it into the position of top online destination for gaming news and information. Larson holds an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia, and a BA of Economics from Dartmouth College.

Developers and publishers interested in learning more about increasing per-title revenues through integrated and dynamic ad placement opportunities should contact business@doublefusion.com.

Award-winning developer strengthens developments team and announces presence at Develop 2008

London, England – 22nd July 2008 – Splash Damage, the award-winning independent developer, today announced the hiring of four industry heavyweights to its team. Following the recent announcement of its partnership with Bethesda Softworks®, Splash Damage is planning to double the size of its development team to more than 60 staff as it moves into multi-platform development on an as-yet unannounced title.

The four experienced professionals are:

*  Olivier Leonardi (Rainbow Six: Vegas, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones) as Art Director;
*  Chris Sweetman (Black, Burnout: Paradise) as Audio Director;
*  Tim Appleby (Mass Effect) as Lead Character Artist;
*  Chris Dawson (Driver, Test Drive, Evil Genius) as Producer.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this influx of amazing talent to Splash Damage, especially as we start developing for multiple platforms,” added Paul Wedgwood, owner of Splash Damage. “Their experience and knowledge are a hugely positive contribution to Splash Damage and will help us further establish Splash Damage as one of the up-and-coming studios in the world.”

“I’m thrilled to be working here at Splash Damage,” said Art Director Olivier Leonardi. “These guys treat each game as a unique creative exercise, rather than just going through the motions year after year, and that really impresses me.”

Adding to its substantial collection of accolades, Splash Damage has recently been nominated for an impressive six Golden Joystick 2008 awards and two prestigious Develop 2008 Industry Excellence Awards for the creation of its hit PC title, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars^TM.

Hot on the heels of the announcement of their partnership with Bethesda Softworks, Splash Damage is actively hiring for several open positions across all major disciplines. An up-to-date listing of all vacancies is available at www.splashdamage.com/jobs.

Splash Damage will also be present at Develop 2008 in Brighton from 29 – 31 July 2008, where both Creative Director, Paul Wedgwood and Audio Director, Chris Sweetman will be taking the stage on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. In addition, the studio will have a recruitment booth in the main hall at C14 near the Develop Bar & Networking Lounge. Interested candidates are encouraged to make an appointment by emailing jobs@splashdamage.com.

Realtime Worlds have today released details on a community officer role they are hiring for, full details can be found here;
http://www.realtimeworlds.com/index.php?cat=&id=376&pid=5&vacid=256

Realtime Worlds’ community relations manager Chris ‘Ulric’ Dye told us, “This role offers a great opportunity for someone to get involved with APB and become part of what we are confident will be a hugely successful title and community.

The role is ideally suited to anyone currently working with communities, whether that be in an official capacity via a company or perhaps even a successful fan / guild site. We welcome applications from anyone who feels they are suitable for the role.”

The role is based in Dundee, Scotland. If you are interested send your CV over to Realtime Worlds and good luck.