The appointment of one of Activision Blizzard’s highest-ranking executives to a leadership position at Bored Ape Yacht Club parent Yuga Labs has been seen as a boon for its metaverse efforts and another validation of the crypto industry.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 19, Yuga Labs confirmed it has appointed Daniel\u00a0Alegre \u2014 the current president and chief operating officer of Activision Blizzard \u2014 as its new CEO. He’ll take the helm of the company in the first half of 2023, succeeding the current chief executive, Nicole Muniz.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Activision Blizzard, a gaming giant with a market cap of around\u00a0$60 billion, is responsible for popular gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch.\u00a0Alegre has held the role since 2020.<\/p>\n
Kieran Warwick, the co-founder of blockchain role-playing game Illuvium, said in a Dec. 19 tweet\u00a0that Yuga Labs’\u00a0 new hire is \u201cBig for all of GameFi,\u201d suggesting that the next crypto market bull run will be sparked by Web3-powered gaming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day more news comes out about new players from traditional gaming entering the space. DeFi 2.0 is cool. But gaming will be the narrative that kicks off the next run,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Andrew Soro, vice president of global business development at\u00a0blockchain tech company Immutable, had similar thoughts in a response to Warwick, noting that the appointment is a \u201c[h]uge signal and validation for the space.\u201d <\/p>\n
Nonfungible token (NFT) proponent and managing partner of NFT investment fund Sfermion Andrew Steinwold called\u00a0the news \u201cWILD.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone of that caliber jumping into the NFT space to head one of the leading companies?! Huge news & positive signal for our whole industry,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
According to the Dec. 19 release\u00a0from Yuga Labs, Alegre will work closely with Yuga Labs founders Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano. <\/p>\n
Aronow explained they had \u201cbeen on the hunt for someone with Daniel\u2019s skill set for some time,\u201d to help with \u201cour vision of a truly interoperable metaverse.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, Alegre said he looked forward to the new role, noting that the company\u2019s pipeline of products, partnerships and intellectual property represents a \u201cmassive opportunity to define the metaverse\u201d in a way that gives creators and users ownership of their identity and digital assets. <\/p>\n
His contract with Blizzard ends on March 31, at which point he will take the reigns of CEO at Yuga Labs.\u00a0 Muniz, the current CEO, is set to stay on as a partner and strategic advisor.<\/p>\n