Atari has named Gui Karyo as executive vice president, Development and Operations, in which position he is responsible for day-to-day oversight of Atari’s product development, operations and Atari.com. He will report directly to Jim Wilson, chief executive officer of Atari and play a key role as Atari continues its evolution to become a leader in casual gaming experiences designed for mobile, online and social networks and other emerging platforms.
Karyo joins Atari from IAB/Mindspark Interactive’s IWon, where he served as president of the casual gaming destination and led its expansion from primarily search and advertising activities into social and mobile game development. Before that, he was executive vice president, Operations at video game company Majesco where he spearheaded revenue growth through a casual game strategy. Karyo previously held a number of positions at Marvel Entertainment including president of Publishing and executive vice president of Operations, where he led the digital media strategy and redesign of Marvel.com.
“Gui has a strong track record in creating and monetizing casual games on online and other emerging consumer platforms,” Wilson said. “As we build upon our early success on the social and mobile games space, Gui’s leadership will ensure that we stay focused on delivering games that meet the expectations of our fans and a broader consumer market and live up to the Atari brand.”
Atari recently launched its first Facebook gaming experience, Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter (pictured), and is about to release several iOS apps including Breakout: Boost.
Divisions of Atari include Cryptic Studios, Eden Games, Atari Interactive Inc. and Atari Inc. Atari’s catalogue includes more than 200 properties including game franchises (like Asteroids, Centipede, Missile Command, Lunar Lander), original owned franchises (Test Drive, Backyard Sports, Deer Hunter), MMO games from Cryptic Studios (Star Trek Online, Champions) and third-party franchises (Ghostbusters, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Dungeons and Dragons). As a licensor, Atari extends its brand and franchises into other media, merchandising and publishing categories. Atari has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Lyon and London.
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