IGE, the world's leading provider of value-added services to players and publishers of multiplayer online games, today announced the appointment of Steve Salyer as President and Eric Berk as Chief Financial Officer. The addition of the two veteran executives was announced today by IGE Chief Executive Officer Brock Pierce.
Steve Salyer brings to IGE more than 25 years of experience in senior management roles in the interactive entertainment industry. Mr. Salyer comes to IGE following an extremely successful tenure as President, Business Development for leading video game publisher Ubi Soft Entertainment, where he helped orchestrate the acquisition of famed development house RedStorm Entertainment and was involved in the publishing of the Tom Clancy branded games and other significant franchise products such as Myst and Prince of Persia. Before joining Ubi Soft, Mr. Salyer founded and served as CEO of 911 Entertainment, an Internet-based music venture that shipped the world’s first interactive music CDs that linked with artists’ web sites and whose strategic partners included Intel and Softbank. Prior to that, Mr. Salyer served as a Senior Vice President at video game industry giant Electronic Arts, where his responsibilities included strategic planning, affiliated label distribution, international business development and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Salyer began his online gaming career as Vice President at Strategic Simulations, an early publisher of war and role-playing games.
Eric Berk comes to IGE with more than 20 years of high-level experience in direct commerce, media, internet publishing and financial services. Prior to joining IGE, Mr. Berk was Director of Finance for the Internet/Direct Commerce Division of Martha Stewart Omnimedia, where he was responsible for financial reporting and analysis, strategic planning, new technology initiatives and business development. Prior to that, Mr. Berk served as Chief Financial Officer at Bigfoot Interactive and at Ziff Davis as General Manager for the print, online and custom publishing initiatives for eWeek, Expedia, Smart Business, Webcast and Yahoo Internet Life.
"Steve and Eric bring to IGE an unbelievable amount of experience," Pierce said. "They fit in perfectly with our corporate culture as, in addition to being accomplished managers, they each possess a love and passion for online gaming. As the secondary market continues its explosive growth, their experience and vision will help keep IGE the world-wide leader in this space."