Moritz Baier-Lentz as BITKRAFT Partner

Jens Hilgers, Founding General Partner of BITKRAFT Esports Ventures, commented:

Moritz is the first addition to the team since the launch of our Venture Fund I in January 2019 and we could not be more excited. Moritz shares our culture, our passion, and our ambition—and comes with massive investment experience from one of the world’s finest investment firms.

Furthermore, he is a true core gamer with a strong competitive nature, making him the perfect fit in our diverse global BITKRAFT team. With his presence in New York, we also expand our geographical coverage in one of today’s most exciting and upcoming cities for gaming and esports.

Moritz joins BITKRAFT from Goldman Sachs where he served as Vice President of the Investment Banking Division. While there, he built and co-led the firm’s global gaming and esports practice. Moritz helped advise over $300 billion of mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, venture capital, and other strategic transactions. This includes Dell’s $67 billion acquisition of EMC and IBM’s $34 billion acquisition of RedHat.

Expanding assets and investments

Moritz Baier-Lentz, Partner of BITKRAFT Esports Ventures, added:

I am looking forward to helping our extraordinary founders at the intersection of digital entertainment, gaming, and esports reach their “next level.” We aren’t just investors, but industry veterans and enthusiasts. Our team creates significant value on a global scale through early, candid partnerships and unparalleled domain expertise.

The timing to join BITKRAFT could not be better. Through our portfolio companies, we are observing nascent technology, content, and business model innovations that leave no practical impediment to the creation of synthetic realities—an immersive convergence of physical and digital worlds that will push the frontiers of human experience, collaboration, and performance.

Moritz was once a professional esports player, achieving the number one rank in Blizzard’s action role-playing hack-and-slash Diablo II. He holds an MBA and M.A. from Stanford University and a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the Berlin School of Economics and Law.

In his new position, Moritz will be responsible for expanding BITKRAFT’s assets and investments, supporting portfolio companies, along with interacting with the fund’s investors and strategic partners.

Bringing a wealth of experience to Diablo

Fergusson is an industry veteran and worked on the Gears of War IP for over 15 years. He worked at Epic Games during the series’ conception, but later left the company in 2012. Following that departure, he managed to shape other major titles including Bioshock: Infinite.

However, Fergusson found himself back on board with Gears after Microsoft acquired the rights in 2014 and developed it in-house under The Coalition.

It’s worth noting that Fergusson won’t officially leave his post until March, where he will see out most of Gears Tactics’ development before it releases on April 28. 

“Leaving is bittersweet as I love our Gears family, the fans, and everyone at The Coalition and Xbox,” he said in the tweet. “Thank you, it has been an honor and a privilege to work with you all.”

Fergusson isn’t the only noteworthy Microsoft alumnus to move to Blizzard in recent months. In fact, former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra became Blizzard’s GM and executive vice president in late October 2019. 

New global focus, new subscription sales focus

Rogers position comes as part of Sony bolstering its senior leadership before the launch of the PlayStation 5. The company is withdrawing specific regional strategies and are opting for a more global structure. Rogers and other hires play a significant role in these changes. 

She will be reporting to PlayStation’s President and CEO Jim Ryan, who is excited to have Rogers on the leadership team. 

“She will play a crucial role in scaling the business and I’m thrilled she has brought her expertise to the PlayStation family,” said Ryan in a statement.

Rogers will be tasked with sales operations for both physical and digital releases. Additionally, she will look to grow PlayStation’s subscription services. These include PlayStation Now and Plus.

“The PlayStation brand is one of the most beloved in the world and I am excited to join a company that has such a passionate community, legendary history, and an amazing leadership team,” said Rogers in the same statement. 

“My experience leading global sales organizations will help excel the PlayStation business and deliver the best gaming experiences to fans across the world.” 

Excel Esports into 2020

“In Excel, the boldest British esports brand, I have found a tremendous opportunity to leverage my experience in the sport and lifestyle world to build something truly new with the team that goes beyond what’s expected of an esports organisation,” stated Robin McCammon, Chief Commercial Officer of Excel Esports, in a release. “I’m delighted to join the fastest growing entertainment sector with such an immensely ambitious and disruptive company, and I very much look forward to getting my teeth into establishing Excel as a world leader in the esports space.” 

This is Robin McCammon’s first foray into esports, with the past 18 years at adidas (OTCMKTS: ADDYY). During his time with the iconic sportswear brand, he was the global lead for the World Cup 2014 and 2012 UEFA Euro projects. McCammon assisted with adidas’ relationships with sports organizations like FIFA, Chelsea FC, and Liverpool FC. In addition, he led marketing programs for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015 and 2019.

Building global esports brand

“Excel Esports is the most beloved brand in UK esports, and I’m delighted to take up this new challenge of building the organisation into a household name on a global scale,” said Wouter Sleijffers, Chief Executive Officer of Excel Esports. “My experience helping create one of the most established brands in the industry meant I recognised Excel’s extraordinary potential immediately, and I’m thrilled to be helping chart its course to become an international success.” 

Wouter Sleijffers oversaw Fnatic as the CEO for four years, before parting ways in April of 2019. During this time, he helped facilitate the global esports organization’s transition to a lifestyle brand. Sleijffers worked for companies like MetrixLab, LeasePlan Corporation, Skrill, and Research Now before joining Fnatic. He currently holds an Advisor role at Socios, Attrace, QuizBeat, Aggero, and Maika’i Copenhagen, along with a Managing Director position at MC3.

Excel Esports was founded in 2014 by brothers Joel Holmes-Darby and Kieran Holmes-Darby and currently participates in the franchised League of Legends European Championship (LEC). The founders will move to new positions after these two additions, with Joel acting as Chief People Officer and Kieran as Chief Gaming Officer.

Extra duties at EA

Zampella’s role at Respawn will be left relatively the same. He referred to his current position with Respawn as a “head coach.” 

With DICE Los Angeles, he will be guiding the studio as they build an original game.  Additionally, he will look to re-brand the studio, changing its perception as a support studio to a unique space for fresh experiences. 

“We want people to say, ‘This is a destination you can go and make new content’,” said Zampella. As for the project that the Los Angeles studio is working on, that hasn’t been unveiled yet. 

Meanwhile, many at EA are very excited for Zampella’s new responsibilities, including top executives.

“He’s going to help them further fortify and build out their talent and their team,” said EA chief studios officer Laura Miele. “I think we’re going to have a really strong studio out of our Los Angeles location.” 

“We will work with all our energy to serve gamers with incredible content and experiences. I can’t wait to be part of this team,” said Ybarra in a statement. 

Mike Ybarra to Blizzard  

Earlier this month, Mike Ybarra departed from his role at Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) as Xbox Corporate Vice President where he stayed for 20 years. Prior to joining Blizzard, he worked on titles like Gears of War, Sunset Overdrive, and Age of Empires. He also led and oversaw online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service Xbox Live, subscription service Xbox Game Pass, and live streaming platform Mixer.

Ybarra joins Blizzard Entertainment in the middle of its very public controversy. This started after the Overwatch publisher punished Hearthstone professional player Ng Wai “Blitzchung” Chung for saying “liberate Hong Kong — revolution of our time” during an official post-game interview. Blizzard banned Blitzchung for a year, withdrew his prize pool winnings, and also banned the two broadcasters who interviewed the player. 

The company has since reduced the player’s ban and returned the prize winnings, but the protests continue. Despite this, the stock price hasn’t been impacted as a result and Activision Blizzard will release its earnings report on November 7, 2019. There are also rumors that Blizzard has big announcements to make at its annual Blizzcon event. No specific details have been released on Mike Ybarra’s new role. 

Matt Bailey as Senior Director

“Matt comes to us with the perfect combination of passion for esports, international experience, and expertise in cutting-edge digital marketing partnerships for traditional sports,” said Ben Spoont, CEO and co-founder of Misfits Gaming, in a statement. “We’re excited to have our new Senior Director of Sponsorship Sales based in London — as our Berlin office, the Alienware Center, and our LEC team are key parts of Misfits as a whole — and we look forward to further developing our business presence in Europe.”

Prior to joining, Bailey served as a High Yield Bond Analyst at CIBC World Markets and worked in consulting for IMG. While with IMG, he helped with the franchised cricket Indian Premier League, Sochi 2014 Olympic bid, Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, and more.

Bailey’s latest role was with United Kingdom-based fan engagement and sponsorship activation platform InCrowd Sports, as Chief Commercial Officer. While there, he worked with rights holders which consisted of the ICC, Premiership Rugby, and top soccer clubs to create digital products and brand engagement opportunities.

Misfits Gaming Sponsorships

“The opportunity to create brand partnerships for Misfits Gaming that drive our global brand and business is hugely exciting and transferring my experience in working in international sports and entertainment to esports is a professional challenge that I can’t wait to start,” said Matt Bailey, Senior Director of Sponsorship Sales and Services at Misfits Gaming. “I will look to leverage my background in sponsorship consulting to create partnership opportunities and relationships that make investment decisions easy for our current and future partners.”

Bailey is the third executive to be hired in the last few months, shortly after the organization named former FOX Networks Group VP of Global Solutions Lagen Nash as Vice President of Partnerships in early October. With Bailey’s experience in sponsorship sales in traditional sports, it will be interesting to see his implementation with Misfits Gaming. Marketing research firm Global Web Index estimates that the same targeted demographic of ages 18 to 34, accounted for 73% of esports viewership in 2018.

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment

The new management will help lead operations for Overwatch League (OWL) franchise Los Angeles Gladiators and the Call of Duty League’s (CDL) Los Angeles Guerrillas, which they acquired a franchise slot in for $25 million. In addition, Garfat and Rubens will be involved operationally with a new 6,000 person venue. The venue is adjacent to the Los Angeles Rams’ new home, the SoFi Stadium, near Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

“[Alex and Ryan] both have a wide variety of experience across the esports world. Not just the esports world, but the gaming community in general,” said Josh Kroenke, Vice Chairman of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment in an ESPN report. “They both bring different types of experience to the table both on the business side and team operation side just because of their exposure and their experiences.”

“We’re very ambitious now with the Hollywood Park project, to say the least. We took on a lot there and when we started to think through the performance venue, way back to our initial Gladiators investment, we thought it was a great way, an additional way to bring a completely different demographic than we would attract with the Rams. We’re really excited to push the possibilities. Los Angeles is the hotbed of the gaming community and we’re really excited.”

Kroenke Sports & Entertainment entered the esports scene in 2017 after purchasing an Overwatch League franchise slot from Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) for $20 million. KSE currently owns NBA team Denver Nuggets, EPL team Arsenal F.C., NHL team Colorado Avalanche, MLS team Colorado Rapids, and the Denver-based Pepsi Center. Stan Kroenke owns the Los Angeles Rams.

Ryan originally quietly founded the organization in 2016 after leaving Bungie. Last July, the company closed a Series A funding round that raised $18.8 million. The round was led by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and Crescent Real Estate and Goff Capital founder and chairman John Goff. Other investors included Luther King Capital Management affiliates, and former Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) Executive Vice President David Oxford.

ProbablyMonsters is structured like a holding company and incubator, with several subsidiary studios that will operate as independent LLCs. The parent company will provide centralized legal, financial, and human resources services to its subsidiaries, enabling each studio under its jurisdiction to focus purely on game development.

ProbablyMonsters currently oversees two subsidiary developers: Cauldron Studios and Firewalk Studios. Both studios are reportedly developing original AAA titles with publishing deals already in place, though details about the projects and their publishers were not made public.

Firewalk Studios is operated by Tony Hsu, former Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Destiny division at Activision. Firewalk’s first title is being directed by Ryan Ellis, a former creative director at Bungie. Cauldron Studios is being run by Dave Matthews, formerly an art director at Bungie. Cauldron’s debut title is being directed by CJ Cowan, a cinematics director on Halo and a story lead on Destiny: The Taken King.

ProbablyMonsters and its subsidiaries operate out of Issaquah, Washington.

In a statement, Ryan said of the unveiling of ProbablyMonsters:

As we enter a new generation of gaming, the industry needs a better model for building AAA studios where game developers can reliably turn their creative vision and effort into exceptional experiences that delight players. Our mission at ProbablyMonsters is to unite, guide, and empower talented game developers in a stable and predictable business environment that respects people, culture, and creativity.

The investment was led by Bitkraft Esports Ventures, though the studio has said its debut game will not have esports elements. 1Up Ventures and several undisclosed angel investors also participated in the funding round.

Playable Worlds was officially established in 2018 by Koster, who will serve as CEO, and veteran industry advisor Eric Goldberg, who will be the company’s head of business, strategy, and corporate development. Dorian Ouer, a former senior technical director at companies like Amazon and Disney, will serve as chief technology officer. Members of the art and design teams have experience at companies including DC, Marvel, and Sony Online Entertainment.

The studio has not revealed any details about its inaugural project, but Koster has revealed that it will take place in an original setting with a new story, rather than being based on a licensed property. He also says the game will attempt to appeal to numerous different playstyles, including exploration, socializing, and combat, among others.

“I’m incredibly excited to bring a new world to players,” Koster said in a statement. “Technology has caught up to the visions we always had of alternate worlds where entire societies can form. It’s time for that dream to be fulfilled.”

Bitkraft partner Scott Rupp said of the firm’s investment in a statement:

We are honored to work with Raph Koster and the entire Playable Worlds team as they redefine MMOs with new levels of community interaction synonymous with streaming culture. Playable Worlds is building on Raph’s incredible heritage of MMO design innovation to create a completely new experience that will push the boundaries of persistent game worlds and social competitive play.