FORMER Ubisoft Reflections managing director Gareth Edmondson has been unveiled as the new chief executive of mobile games service provider Thumbstar Games.
Ubisoft confirmed Edmondson’s departure from Newcastle-based Reflections last week, although his destination wasn’t discussed. It has now been confirmed that he has joined the three-year-old Liverpool firm, where he will be joined by brother Martin.
Thumbstar also plans to set up a new studio in Newcastle, which will produce exclusive content and IP for the company’s worldwide customers.
Edmondson said the studio will require “something like 10 roles”. It currently employs around eight in Liverpool, and he will split his time between the two locations.
He said: “We see mobile as a rapidly expanding part of the market. There’s a lot of attractive things about the speed of turnover of product. You spread your risk by bringing out a range of products rather than just one that takes a long time.
“My brother Martin invested in the company a number of years ago, and we looked at it recently and said it was ready for real growth.”
As well as the introduction of Gareth as chief executive and Martin as chief creative officer, Thumbstar also announced it had received significant investment which would allow it to set up the Newcastle studio and build on its current activities in mobile development and publishing.
It currently represents more than 100 developers, and provides more than 2,000 titles through channels to 128 global markets including Asia, the UK, Europe and the Americas.
