AAA execs fund marketing network Games Growth Guild

Executives known for their work at companies such as Riot Games, EA, Annapurna Interactive, and many others have founded the Games Growth Guild, presented as a global network of marketing professionals.

Via a press release, the network is launching today, bringing together “experts from every discipline of marketing and publishing.” The goal is to offer monthly talks, idea sharing, free resources, tactical exchanges, and peer support to members. This way, the guild will explore what’s working and what isn’t across launches, growth campaigns, live events, and go-to-market strategies.

“Game developers have solved incredible technical challenges, but marketing and distribution remain the hardest problems,” founding advisory board member and CEO of FirstLook, Eden Chen, said in the press release. “The Games Growth Guild brings together the industry’s best to share best practices and resources to help great games find their players.”

The advisory board, which represents AAA, mobile, and independent perspectives, include the following members: Eric Wood, SVP of publishing at Scopely, Krystal Herring, head of global events at Twitch, Nikki Lewis, operating partner marketing and publishing at Haveli, Leo Olebe, CEO at Olebe Media Group, Connor Bridgeman, director of marketing at Lyrical Games, Jeff Legaspi, director of marketing at Fictions, Eden Chen, CEO at Pragma-FirstLook, Victoria Tran, director of communications at Innersloth, and Thomas Ko, VP of Krafton.

Related:Kim Swift, former Portal lead developer, joins NEARstudios as COO

‘The gaming industry is exciting, complex, and ever changing’

Membership in the Games Growth Guild is now open, free of charge to “all games industry marketers, community leaders, and growth professionals.” Members will be verified to ensure a “safe and welcoming space” that fosters meaningful collaboration and what the guild calls a culture of “give and get.” The guild will also host in-person events, including a partnership with GameDiscoverCo during GDC Festival of Gaming in March 2026.

“The gaming industry is exciting, complex, and ever changing,” Eden Chen said in the announcement. “To help navigate this incredible market and best prepare marketers for the future, it’s essential to bring people together to share knowledge and build community.”

The breakdown of one particular (wildly successful) campaign remains one highlight here in 2025. Balatro publisher Playstack spent months constructing a “Wheel of Attention” to give the project the best chance of success, focusing on small streamers to promote the game and expand methodically, as well as cultivating a digital word-of-mouth, which was a “hugely powerful tool.”

Related:Megabonk dev withdraws from The Game Awards over ‘unqualified’ nomination

Game Developer and GDC are sibling organizations under Informa Festivals.