Quick take:
- Daniel Alegre will begin his new role as CEO of Yuga Labs in the first half of 2023.
- Alegre previously spent 16 years at Google and joined Activision Blizzard in 2020.
- He will bring his expertise in the games industry to Yuga Labs’ Otherside metaverse project.
Yuga Labs today announced the appointment of Activision Blizzard President and COO Daniel Alegre as its new CEO. He will leave Activision Blizzard at the end of Q1 2023 and begin his new role at Yuga Labs after.
Alegre succeeds current CEO Nicole Muniz, who will stay on as a partner and strategic advisor to the company. He will work closely with Yuga Labs founders Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano to lead the company’s next phase of growth.
With the new appointment, Yuga Labs hopes to leverage Alegre’s expertise in the gaming industry as the company is developing Otherside, a gamified metaverse inspired by MMORPGs.
Since 2020, Alegre has served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Activision Blizzard overseeing international delivery and commercialization of franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Candy Crush.
Prior to that, he spent over 16 years at Google where he held various roles throughout his career, including President of Global and Strategic Partnerships, President of Retail, Shopping and Payments as well as President of Asia Pacific and Latin America.
During Alegre’s tenure at Activision Blizzard, the company has faced legal obstacles. On Dec 8, the Federal Trade Commission sought to block Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard, claiming that the $69 million deal, the largest ever in the gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress its competitors.
In July, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) also launched an investigation to determine whether the acquisition could cause “a substantial lessening of competition within any market or markets in the United Kingdom for goods or services.”
However, this did not affect Yuga Labs’ decision to hire Alegre. Yuga Labs’ co-founder Wylie Aronow said that the leadership team had been on the hunt for someone with Alegre’s skill set for a long time.
“Daniel has held one of the highest-level roles at one of the largest gaming companies in the world. He brings valuable experience across entertainment, e-commerce, and global strategic partnerships – all of which are critical aspects of an immersive web3 world built by creators and for creators,” Aronow added.
Yuga Labs has been poaching top game industry talent as it grows Otherside. In September, the company hired its first chief gaming officer, Spencer Tucker, to oversee the company’s gaming initiatives and Otherside metaverse.
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