Simon Rutter, former EVP Sony PlayStation, joins new company as Chairman alongside CEO Ian Hambleton
Today, the formation of a new entertainment PLC EMERGENT ENTERTAINMENT is announced.
Emergent Entertainment officially merges London-based video game studio Maze Theory with blockchain veterans and developers Pluto Digital PLC, following a successful joint venture between the two companies (Emergent Games) earlier this year.
Emergent Entertainment is a next-generation entertainment company focused on bringing audiences and storytellers together by harnessing emerging technologies. The proposed valuation of the new business exceeds $65 million, and the company intends to prepare for a future IPO event.
Former Executive Vice President of Sony Interactive Entertainment/PlayStation, Simon Rutter, joins the business as Chairman, alongside CEO Ian Hambleton (former CEO of Maze Theory).
Simon spent 25 years at PlayStation, with the last 10 years in senior international leadership roles. Ian is a successful entrepreneur of 20 years, having founded and grown creative businesses across tech, digital, gaming and green tech with Found Studio, Maze Theory and Ecologi.
Emergent Entertainment benefits from the combined legacy of the two merged entities, the skills and experience of its employees, and its existing product portfolio and asset base. Together, these elements provide the company with a unique set of competencies to successfully deliver engaging content such as mixed reality gaming, Web3 gaming and Web3 token services in a range of entertainment media.
The new company will balance the traditional and the new; storytelling craft with technical innovation; and established, reliable business models with more contemporary forms of monetisation.
With more than 60 developers and executives with extensive experience building AAA games, the game studio has four centuries’ worth of combined knowledge. Their aggregated CV includes: FIFA, NBA Online, The Sims, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, Lord of the Rings, Horizon Zero Dawn, Sniper Elite, Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, Doctor Who: Edge of Time, Blood and Truth, and PlayStation VR Worlds.
Emergent Entertainment has already inked deals with several global entertainment properties, drawing on its expertise in making VR games for iconic shows such as Doctor Who and Peaky Blinders, with more VR game announcements to follow.
The company’s first Web3 project, Resurgence, is currently in development and takes players on a journey from present day disaster to a post-apocalyptic future. The game gives players complete control to craft their own destiny by utilising resources in a unique community-based survival concept.
Emergent Entertainment Chairman, Simon Rutter, says, “The Emergent Entertainment leadership team is passionate about the creative opportunities offered by the latest technological innovations.”
CEO Ian Hambleton adds, “We are excited to bring together AAA game creators and advanced Web3 engineering skills in a way that hasn’t yet been seen. We are laser focused on delivering the best games and experiences using technology that truly benefits players and new audiences.”
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