Managing Director MediaArt
Ukraine
Marina Sapunova has worked in various capacities at Media Art for the past 8 years, most recently as Managing Director,
a position she has held since April, 2008.
In her role she's responsible for business development managing partnerships with companies such as Merscom LLC, Big Fish Games,
Lifetime Networks and others.
Marina joined Media Art in 2001 and has gained extensive experience in project management and new product development when working on more than 30
software titles licensed to markets around the globe.
She has co-produced such titles as National Geographic Channel: Herod's Lost Tomb, Righteous Kill 2: The Revenge of the Poet Killer,
The Mystery of Mary Celeste, Nat Geo Adventure Lost City of Z.
Marina holds a Masters of Linguistics received with high honors from the Donetsk State University.
Chairman of Board of Directors Alawar Entertainment, Inc.
Russia
Alexander Lyskovsky graduated from Novosibirsk State University with a Master's Degree in Computer Science. While studying, he worked on an interactive system for regional and transoceanic calculations of tsunami isochrones and geophysical model studies. In 1997, he left the field of science for the computer games industry. In 1999, the company he founded became Alawar Entertainment, one of the world's leading publishers of casual games. Today, Mr. Lyskovsky is in charge of strategic planning and tactical operations. Mr. Lyskovsky is also the co-founder and chairman of the board of the Independent Software Developers Forum (ISDEF), a major Eastern European association of software developers, distributors and publishers; an adviser of Casual Connect Kyiv, the first specialized conference in Eastern Europe dedicated to the casual games industry; and a member of the board of the Game Developers Club, an organization uniting the leading specialists affecting the development of the electronic game industry in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
CTO Absolutist
Ukraine
A graduate of a leading former USSR university, having a degree in Physics, Vitaliy created his first “tetris” back in 80s. Since that time he has produced over 100 casual games as a game designer and programmer. He has been living “casual” during whole life, but had to be “hardcore” when he was managing financials for big companies. For the last 10 years Vitaliy has been a cofounder of Absolutist and the mastermind behind many games of the company. His main dream is to work 24-7 on games. Vitaliy gives strategic development directions to Absolutist’s production and marketing. He is a well-known speaker in all Eastern European game industry events. He’s a fan of mobile devices of all kinds.
V.P. of Business Development, INTENIUM GmbH
Germany
Alla has been in the casual games industry since 2003 working on the managerial positions in business development, sales and marketing in Absolutist, the biggest casual games company in Ukraine. In 2007 she left the company after a year of being its CEO and continued her career as VP of Business Development with Germany-based INTENIUM, the leading European casual games distributor, publisher and developer. In this position she is responsible for the strategic directions of the game holding, cooperation with international partners, and development studio control.
She holds an MA in English and World Literature.
VP of strategy development Alawar Entertainment
Russia
Tatiana joined Alawar Entertainment, the leading international publisher and distributor of casual games, in 2004. In July 2010, she became VP of strategy development, responsible for the development of Alawar's strategy, analytics, market research and the flow of information between the company divisions. Prior to the appointment, she was acting as the director of marketing communications and PR, in charge of public relations, events and market analysis to promote Alawar Entertainment on the international stage. Tatiana is an advisor to the Casual Games Association (CGA). In this role, she helps to organize Casual Connect Kyiv and supports other events the association hosts. Before joining Alawar, Tatiana worked as a journalist and a TV show host. She graduated from Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University with a degree in linguistics and Novosibirsk State University with a degree in economics.
V.P. of Business Development Playrix
Russia
Yuri Labintsev (aka Sean Elliot) is VP of Business Development with Playrix Entertainment, a top 10 casual games developer and publisher. The team behind such solid titles as The Rise of Atlantis, Fishdom, and many others has grown fivefold over the last 2 years and significantly expanded its production and publishing operations.
Sean has been with the company since its inception in 2004 and helped grow a startup into what is now a serious casual games developer and publisher with an extensive network of distribution partners, an experienced in-house development team and a number of talented external studio partners. His responsibilities include identifying new business opportunities as well as building key partnerships in publishing and distribution across multiple platforms.
He has a degree with honors in English and German languages and also completed coursework at Michigan State University where he picked up the name Sean Elliot that has been his work alias ever since.
Executive Producer Oberon Media
Washington
Since 1999 David Nixon has dedicated himself to pioneering new ways for our "casual" games to reach new audiences. In 1999, with RealArcade, he was one of the first to see the potential of "try before you buy". In 2000 he was one of the first to attempt "2nd Party" publishing. In 2001 he was looking to Eastern Europe as a source of commercially viable PC games, inspiring game developers around the world to participate in the amazing opportunities this category offered. In 2004 he helped catapult Oberon Media onto the casual games world stage. 2005 found David evangelizing "console casual" games with his central role in the launch of Xbox Live Arcade. Now, in 2009 he works to revitalize the role of “web games” in the casual games sector, expanding the role of online communities in the future of our industry. He currently works as Executive Producer at Oberon Media.
Arcade Producer
California
Terri Hardie, formerly was the Arcade Producer at Reflexive Entertainment and is responsible for evaluating and accepting all of the games launched in Reflexive’s online game distribution portal. Hired to help manage and grow the Reflexive Arcade, Terri has seen the industry, as well as the Arcade, take off like a rocket with more game submissions than are even feasible to launch. Her passion for games is exceeded only by her desire to bring the best games to the people who matter most, the gamers! Prior to working for Reflexive Entertainment, Terri received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She spent too many years in a boring law firm, playing any game she could get her hands on in her free time, until she landed her dream job at Reflexive Entertainment. Now, she plays games for a living and couldn’t be happier!
Director of GameHouse Partners RealGames
Washington
As the director of digital distribution for RealGames (the games division of RealNetworks), Jeremy Snook manages the content acquisition and post-production teams responsible for distributing casual games through Real’s worldwide games services to over 45 million monthly users. He joined RealNetworks in 2006.
Prior to joining RealNetworks, Snook was the marketing manager at Gas Powered Games, the award-winning developer of the Supreme Commander and Dungeon Siege franchises. Previous to his turn towards marketing, he held various producer positions at Gas Powered Games. Snook holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and is currently working on his graduate degree in digital media from the UW.