Former Acclaim CEO To Head Codemasters News
Jon Wilcox
04/05/2005
UK developer/publisher confirms the appointment of a new CEO and COO, as current Chairman becomes CCO...
Following the news last month that 40% of Codemasters had been acquired by venture capitalist group Benchmark Capital Europe, the developer/publisher has today announced two new executive appointments to lead the companyâs new financial strategy.
Rod Cousens, the former CEO of the now collapsed publisher Acclaim has been appointed as the new CEO of Codemasters, bringing with him 25 years of experience in the videogames industry. The company has also brought in former Take-Two COO and Co-Chairman Tony Williams as the new Chief Operating Officer. During his time at Take-Two Mr Williams oversaw the acquisition of BMG Interactive and its Grand Theft Auto IP, as well as the dramatic increase in revenue at Take-Two, which ballooned from $12 million to $500 million. Speaking about his new role as head of Codies, Mr Cousens said "Both Tony and I have great admiration for Codemasters' innovation, drive and success over the past 18 years. Codemasters enjoys an excellent reputation, being both a respected developer of high-quality game titles and a strong international publisher. With the additional involvement of Benchmark Capital Europe, we look forward to being part of the senior management team that is committed to further strengthening and expanding the company."
Current Codemasters Chairman David Darling will become the Chief Creative Officer and will oversee the companyâs game development that will include future game content, Massively Multiplayer Online content, as well as format expansion including the mobile platform. Commenting on the two new executives, Mr Darling said "We are putting the pieces in place for longevity and growth as we take the company to the next stage. We are building financial and management strength, enabling us to expand our product innovation and game development. I am immensely pleased in welcoming Rod and Tony to the Codemasters family. Their experience and achievements in the global video game markets will be hugely valuable for our company as part of its global expansion."
Global Partner of Benchmark Capital, Ynon Kreiz commented that, "We are delighted to bring on board two such strong executives. Rod's skills in international sales and distribution together with Tony's operational and financial expertise will complement David and Richard Darling's creative leadership. This will help us in building Codemasters into a leading global publisher."
The new line-up at the top of Codemasters certainly seems formidable and itâll be very interesting to chart how successful the companyâs restructuring will actually be. Once one of the darlings of the UK videogame industry, Codemasters has all to often in recent years relied heavily upon established annual franchise updates such as Colin McRae, and LMA Manager â“ letâs see what the future brings.
Weâll have more shortly...