Realtime Worlds hires industry veterans for top jobs
Crackdown and APB developer, Realtime Worlds has its hired two industry veterans for leading positions within the company.
Brian Ullrich - previously with Nintendo, Software Creations, DMA Design, VR-1, LithTech, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts - is the company’s director of development, and Robert Rice - former director of security and network operations at NCsoft - is the company’s vice president of online operations.
So congratulations to the two of them.
Full release after the break.
By Mike Bowden
For Immediate Release:
REALTIME WORLDS EXPANDS SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Respected gaming veterans join award-winning developer.
DUNDEE, Scotland – October 21, 2008 – Realtime Worlds, a leading independent video game developer, announced today the appointment of Brian Ullrich as the company’s Director of Development, and of Robert Rice as the company’s Vice President of Online Operations.
Brian Ullrich, who joins Realtime Worlds from Electronic Arts, will report directly to RTW CEO David Jones and will take charge of development, ensuring that RTW titles are developed in the most efficient and productive manner whilst continuing to be cutting-edge and of extremely high quality.
Brian has 20 years experience in games, having held senior positions at Nintendo, Software Creations, DMA Design, VR-1, LithTech, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts.
Rob Rice joins RTW from NCsoft where he was Director of Network and Security Operations. Rob’s Operational responsibilities spanned the US and Europe supporting all of NCsoft’s data centres and development studios. As VP of Online Operations Rob is responsible for leading the Operations team supporting RTW’s data and game operations centres, billing and customer support.
Prior to Rob’s position at NCsoft he was at Broadwing Communications where he held multiple positions on the operations team ranging from senior technical roles to managing the Internet Network Operations Centre supporting all IP customers for Broadwing.
CEO and Creative Director David Jones said of the appointments “We’re delighted to have individuals of such high calibre come on board. Their wealth of experience will be invaluable in continuing the company’s success and of achieving the ambitious goals we have for the next few years.”
About Realtime Worlds
Founded in 2002 by CEO and Creative Director David Jones alongside gaming industry veterans Ian Hetherington and Tony Harman, Realtime Worlds is one of the largest and most successful independent game developers in the world. With an exceptionally talented staff of more than 200, its experienced teams have a tremendous history of creating some of the world's bestselling video games, including the global hit franchises 'Lemmings' and 'Grand Theft Auto'. In 2006, Realtime Worlds received a US$31 million investment commitment from New Enterprise Associates, one of the world's leading venture capital firms. This investment enabled Realtime Worlds to develop new and innovative videogame franchises and recruit top game development talent from around the world.
In an exclusive partnership with Microsoft Game Studios, Realtime Worlds launched its first title, Crackdown, on Xbox 360 in early 2007. The debut game broke records for demo downloads, sold approximately 1.4 million copies, and won multiple awards including prestigious BAFTA and Develop Industry Excellence awards.
In April 2008 Realtime Worlds announced that it has raised US$50 million in Series B funding. The renowned investment firm Maverick Capital led the new investment round with existing investor New Enterprise Associates and WPP, a world leader in marketing communications services.
Realtime Worlds is currently working on All Points Bulletin (www.apb.com), a massively multiplayer online game in the urban action genre.
For more information on Realtime Worlds, visit www.realtimeworlds.com.