Gamer Network promotes Simon Maxwell to COO role

Gamer Network, publisher of VG247 and Eurogamer has promoted publishing director Simon Maxwell to COO after joining the company a year ago.

Maxwell will now work on the day-to-day running of the group and its many sites alongside CEO and founder Rupert Loman.

In a statement, Loman said, "Simon has made an enormous difference to our business since he joined a year ago. Traffic is up, revenues continue to grow, we have new partnerships in place and our already strong relationships in the market have been strengthened further. We welcome him to the board to help shape the future vision of the company."

Also promoted is David Lilley who is now managing director of Gamer Events, which is responsible for Eurogamer Expo, Rezzed and the GameHorizon conference. Loman added, "David has done an exceptional job over the five years he has been with us, growing EGX in to the largest video games event in the UK and managing the events team. We are well positioned to drive this part of the business forward."

John Benyamine has been promoted to VP of US content, while Eurogamer.de manager Oliver Menne has also be appointed head of content and revenue optimisation. Maxwell concluded, "The roles John and Oliver are performing are incredibly important as we look to build on our record 69 per cent year-on-year audience growth (currently standing at 13 million monthly unique users) and build our revenues across all markets.

"It's an exciting time for the company and these changes mean we are in a better shape than ever to build upon the strong brands and reach we have in each territory as we enter the next generation of games consoles."