Solari joins Jagex as CMO

Thu 23 Feb 2012 2:00pm GMT / 9:00am EST / 6:00am PST
PeopleDevelopment

Codemasters' online gaming head is Runescape developer's new hire

Jagex

Jagex Games Studio has developed and self-published over 40 online titles, including the Guinness World...

jagex.com

Runescape developer Jagex has appointed David Solari as its new chief marketing officer. Solari was previously the VP and GM of Codemasters Online Gaming.

"It's with great pleasure that I welcome David to the Jagex family," said CEO Mark Gerhard.

"David's leadership, online experience, gravitas and passion for games will help fortify an already successful team. On a personal note, David is an all round great guy and a perfect match for Jagex DNA."

In his new role Solari will take control of all marketing activities for the UK developer, covering both its most popular title Runescape as well as upcoming projects Stellar Dawn and Transformers Universe.

"Having worked in the digital games space for many years, I have followed Jagex's incredible success and growth with great interest," added Solari.

"The company's strength in pioneering free-to-play browser games is inspiring. This role presents a huge and exciting challenge for me. I can't wait to get started and I'm really looking forward to working with this terrific team as we drive toward our goal of making Jagex the online entertainment destination in the years to come."

In his 14 years at Codemasters he supported Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Archlord and Jumpgate Evolution.

Last month Jagex also hired former Rockstar art and animation director Alex Horton as chief creative officer.

7 Comments

Bruce Everiss

Well done David.
Cambridge is a lot different to Leamington and Jagex is a lot different to Codemasters.
Enjoy yourself, I am sure you will do well.

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Bruce Everiss on 23rd February 2012 5:06pm

Posted:A year ago

#1

Charlie Andre-Barrett
European Digital Sales Manager

Bethesda Softworks

Congrats David ! Silicon fen that is Cambridge is a magical place and is home to some very SMART Companies , ARM , Jagex , etc..........

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Charlie Andre-Barrett on 23rd February 2012 4:51pm

Posted:A year ago

#2

Michael Thaddeus
Associate Games Designer

Bigpoint

Yes Cambridge is home to some very smart companies... Let's hope he can help it further, huh?

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Michael Thaddeus on 24th February 2012 12:35am

Posted:A year ago

#3

Bruce Everiss

This is probably the top job in marketing in the British game industry.
Working in "marketing" for the UK bit of an American, French or Japanese company isn't really marketing in its complete sense, it is mere promotion. To do proper marketing you need to be at head office with the ear of the board.
Jagex is almost certainly the biggest publisher with its senior strategic management in the UK.

Not only is this the top job, it is also one of the most challenging. Imbuing a large organisation with a marketing culture and at the same time breaking out from dependence on one relatively mature brand.
Because Jagex sell gaming as a service they are in regular contact with a huge customer base. This is a priceless advantage over publishers of boxed retail product and I am sure that it is one that David will leverage to the advantage of the company. Just simply doing a Rovio with merchandise would bring in considerable income.

Jagex will be even more interesting to watch over the coming months and years with David there. I am sure that he will rise to the challenge.

Posted:A year ago

#4

Paul Trowe
President & CEO

Replay Games

David is a super sharp guy and I've had the brief pleasure of working with him at Codemasters before his departure. I hope Jagex doesn't hand-cuff him and allow him to spread his wings and fly. It's ultimately for their own benefit since David is AAA in my book.

Posted:A year ago

#5

Scott Berfield
Executive Producer

University of Washington

Congrats David!

Posted:A year ago

#6

Matthew Hill
Head of Recruitment

Specialmove

@Bruce - If it ever arose I think CMO at Mind Candy would at least match this as an opportunity. Interestingly Ed Relf also came from Codemasters !

Posted:A year ago

#7

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