April 2025 Games Industry Roundup: Riot Games Names Hoby Darling as President

The games industry has seen a series of significant appointments in recent weeks. To help keep track of these developments, we have compiled the key moves in this roundup. If your company has made recent hires or transitions, please send the details to newhires@gamesindustry.biz. Riot Games has announced the appointment of Hoby Darling as its new president. Darling will work closely with teams across Riot to support and manage their work. Prior to joining Riot, Darling was a senior executive at Logitech's global leadership team, where he spent over six years and co-founded the company's esports division. He also served as president and CEO of Skullcandy for four years. Darling's experience also includes working as global general manager at Nike+ Sport for three years and as a member of Nike Affiliates' executive team for a further three years. "I've had the privilege of working with many companies, and there's something unique about a place that takes risks, challenges convention, and remains committed to its mission," Darling said. "Riot has a long history of creating experiences that truly matter to players, and I'm excited to work alongside passionate Rioters who strive for excellence every day." Riot Games CEO Dylan Jadeja added: "Hoby has spent his career working with passionate communities, from sports to gaming and beyond. He knows how to bring out the best in teams and will help Rioters tap into their creativity, sharpen their focus, and channel their competitive spirit." Mark Cox has joined Hasbro as senior director of regional marketing for digital games. Cox has nearly two decades of industry experience, starting at Activision in 2007 as senior manager for European digital marketing. He went on to become director of European digital marketing and European marketing director for Call of Duty digital products. Cox also worked at Riot Games as brand and analytics director, head of UK publishing, country manager, and Valorant EU publishing lead, and EMEA director of brand. Most recently, he was vice president of consumer marketing for esports, festivals, and digital platforms at ESL Faceit Group. "I left ESL Faceit Group to return to my passion for games publishing," Cox said. "I'm excited to build a go-to-market strategy and an experienced team to help bring Hasbro's games to players worldwide." Greg Weller has been appointed head of gaming partnerships at Generation Media. Weller has over two decades of experience in gaming and entertainment, joining Rockstar Games in 2007 as international product manager. He then moved to Bethesda in 2011 as UK marketing manager before returning to Rockstar in 2012 as senior international product manager. Weller was promoted to marketing director of the Australia and New Zealand region in 2014, a position he held for nearly nine years. Prior to joining Generation Media, Weller was senior brand marketing manager at Team17 and an independent consultant on gaming marketing and strategy. Weller's role will enable Generation Media to provide publishers with the necessary support to secure resources, media strategy, planning, and execution. "Gaming has long been a core focus for Generation Media, and with Greg on board, we're increasing our commitment to delivering bespoke, high-performance media strategies for studios of all sizes," said Generation Media managing director Lisa Morgan. Other recent appointments include Alexa Bowers being promoted to senior public relations manager at Sega of America, Katerina Dudinskaya being promoted to CEO at Goodville, Marc Anthony Rodriguez joining Acclaim as director of publishing and strategic partnerships, and Emma Weeks joining Raptor PR as account manager. Sports Interactive has promoted Tom Hardy to senior social media executive, while Vincent Bernardin has been promoted to head of gaming for France and Central Europe at TikTok. Unity has appointed Des Gayle as senior partner relations manager, and Raptor PR has promoted Joshua Callaghan to junior account manager. Former Larian studio head Arthur Mostovoy has joined Aonic as head of games, where he will oversee the company's portfolio of titles and support the delivery of high-quality games to players.