Free Realms Creative Lead Laralyn McWilliams Joins iWin

Former Loot Drop and Sony Online Entertainment creative lead Laralyn McWilliams leads a new round of hires at Facebook licensed game show-focused publisher iWin. As vice president, creative, McWilliams will lead a design team to create original IP, an area in which the company currently lacks. McWilliams is a highly influential online game leader, typically focused on MMOs. She was the former creative director on Free Realms at Sony Online Entertainment, as well as a former game director for Edge of Reality and lead designer for both Pandemic Studios and High Voltage Software. The company also announced two other hires on Monday: Nick Rush will lead efforts in reating social games based on licensed game shows, and Randy Angle has been hired as the creative director of mobile games. Rush was formerly the chief creative officer at WonderHill, where he headed the design of Facebook game Dragons of Atlantis. Angle is a mobile veteran with over 60 titles under his belt. "Laralyn, Randy and Nick are incredible additions to the company," said iWin president Peter Negulescu. "We have assembled an all-star team to take iWin’s huge audience and beloved games across all platforms, with an expanded strategy around mobile and social games." Casual games portal iWin has been focusing on Facebook as of late, where it has positioned itself as the leader in licensed game show recreations. Its Family Feud currently attracts just under 1.9 million MAUs. McWilliams leaves John Romero's Loot Drop, which she joined earlier this year.