Bad Robot Games has named Anna Sweet as its new CEO.
Sweet joins Bad Robot Games president Dave Baronoff in running a gaming-focused division for the film production company founded by J.J. Abrams.
In a press release, Sweet said, “I first met Bad Robot 10 years ago during our collaborations while at Valve and have been huge fans of JJ, Katie, and the team since then – as they represent one of the most forward-looking creative talents across all mediums.”
Sweet continued, “As video games become a primary way to explore and experience new worlds and stories, I believe Bad Robot Games is uniquely suited to build something truly special, and I am incredibly excited to be a part of the team.”
Initially announced in June of 2018, Bad Robot Games planned to work with existing developers to create both large and indie-scale projects across all platforms. They hoped to bring the storytelling and worldbuilding skills they honed working on projects for the big screen, as well as their vast array of in house talent to bear on the video game industry.
Bad Robot partnered with Tencent to help fund the division. The Chinese gaming giant is leading the funding of the studio, with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment also on board as a minority investor.
The last game Bad Robot worked on was a collaboration with Fortnite creator Epic, who has also partnered with Tencent, on a mobile game called Spyjinx. The game is an espionage and secret agent-themed action-adventure game that lets you build a hideout and do spy stuff. We will just have to see what direction the studio heads in next under Sweet’s leadership.
Sweet is a 15-year veteran of the games industry, having worked at Microsoft, Oculus, and Caffeine. She also spent six years at Valve in business development on Steam from 2009 through 2015, a period that saw exponential growth for the platform, going from 8 million users to 135 million worldwide.
Bad Robot believes that they have found the leader they need to take their company to the next level, and if they are right, then it will assuredly be good news for gamers. Well, as long as they don’t work on a Star Wars title, that is.
