Oceanic organisation Dire Wolves has announced an expanded management team ahead of an upcoming “major expansion” planned for this year.
Headlining the recruits is new owner Jason Spiller, who has 15 years of esports experience working for the likes of Microsoft and OMEN by HP. Spiller also joined as a strategic advisor to London Spitfire in Cloud9’s partnership with Guinevere Capital which was announced last month.
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Also joining is Craig Nimmo as the company’s new General Manager, bringing his extensive esports experience as a commentator in the Oceanic scene to provide “rigorous support” for Dire Wolves across PC and console.
Alongside the new team managing the performance and operations at Dire Wolves, a series of industry leaders in content and production have joined the organisation. Rich Bryan has come on board as Head of Production, with a track record for producing some of New Zealand’s biggest music stars. William Slingsby joins as Head of Content having created content for TVNZ, Auckland Basketball, Masterminds Gaming and Dark Sided, and Jordan Gardiner finalises the team as Head of Design.
The new signings prelude an exciting week for the Dire Wolves, which is expected to announce a total rebrand and an entry into a new series of games later this week.
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Earlier this year Guinevere Capital sold its majority stake in Dire Wolves, in keeping with Riot Games’ rules around owning multiple teams across its global leagues, seeing Spiller come on board as owner alongside a series of investment partners who will oversee the expansion.
Spiller commented in a release: “The new team we’ve established is truly a force to be reckoned with, and we feel confident that we’ve sourced the best in the business to lay our new foundations, particularly with regards to performance, content, and establishing the new face of the wolf pack. We’re so excited to see this incredibly talented team get stuck in and usher in the new era of the Dire Wolves.”
Dave Harris, Managing Director at Guinevere Capital, told ESI that he was glad that a team “close to my heart” was heading in the right direction. “I think the quality of the management of the content team and the commercial people is really going to be a game changer for this region.
“The region’s had ups and downs over the past 12 months or so, but I’m still very, very bullish about the scene, and I think Jason coming into the ownership position and the people he is bringing are really gonna take Dire Wolves to the next level.”
Esports Insider says: Sweeping changes are headed to the Dire Wolves organisation over the coming weeks, and we wish the new team the best of luck managing the exciting expansion.