Fortis Games has taken on top talent to fill its chief publishing officer and VP of art roles. Meanwhile a high-level internal promotion has given the company a new SVP of game development.
Kimberly Corbett (pictured) has joined the company as chief publishing officer. Corbett was previously part of the teams at Warner Bros. Games, Zynga and Kabam and will be responsible for key publishing areas such as user acquisition, lifecycle, creative services, market intelligence and publishing analytics.
Michael Christian joins the team as VP of art, bringing with him 25 years of expertise in the games and entertainment industries, having led global art at King, EA, Microsoft and Wildlife Studios in Sao Paulo.
Finally, Carol Liaw, Fortis’ former VP of central services, has moved into the role of SVP of game development, expanding her role to include the oversight of game production.
“Kimberly is a pioneer in multi-platform user acquisition and is one of the few in the industry with deep experience in both the art and science of game publishing” said Steven Chiang, co-founder and president of Fortis.
“She has a proven track record of pushing experimentation and delivering a portfolio of games that can sit on a variety of different platforms for a global player community and, with her at the helm, along with the incredibly talented Carol Liaw as our SVP of game development and Mike Christian as VP of art, we are more confident than ever in the quality and thoughtfulness being brought to the development and publishing of our games.”
Games are bigger than everything
Corbett comes to Fortis with more than a decade of experience in the games space, most recently having served as SVP of digital publishing at Warner Bros. Games, where she managed digital publishing across mobile, cross platform and console games. Prior to her tenure at WB, Corbett was VP of user acquisition at Zynga and similarly at Kabam having worked on six billion dollar games and franchises, including Marvel: Contest of Champions, Game of Thrones: Conquest, Hogwarts Legacy and the Mortal Kombat series.
“The gaming industry is bigger than ever–its revenue surpasses the box office, streaming and music industries combined, games is the second leading form of content consumption after social media, and younger demographics are growing up with games as an integral part of their social interactions,” said Corbett. “Simply put, games is the only place I want to be and Fortis, with some of the industry’s best talent, is the best place to do it.”
Boosts for art and game dev
Meanwhile Mike Christian, Fortis, VP of Art, started his career as a comic book artist working for Marvel Comics, before transitioning to the animation industry creating storyboards for companies such as Disney and Nickelodeon.
Finally, Carol Liaw is Fortis’s new SVP of game development. In her new role Carol is in charge of bringing game projects to life, overseeing the production, platform, and developer services groups. Prior to this role, Carol joined Fortis in the early days, heading up the strategic programs and then the central services teams.
Fortis itself remains “dedicated to building the best social experiences in games,” and will “continue to leverage the endless possibilities enabled by streaming, new communication platforms and the broadest-ever accessibility of high quality game experiences worldwide.”
