Outplay Appoints Former AOL, EA Execs To Board Of Directors

Dundee, Scotland-based video game publisher Outplay Entertainment has launched its first two titles, while also appointing two industry veterans to its board of directors. Outplay was founded at the beginning of 2011 by brothers Douglas and Richard Hare, who together had previously founded independent development studio The Collective in 1997, before merging with BackBone Entertainment in 2005 to form Foundation 9 Entertainment. Word Trick and Booty Quest are the company's first free-to-play two casual games, and are now available to play via Facebook. As part of the announcement, the company also revealed that it has hired former AOL Europe president Karen Thomson and former EA and LucasArts executive Randy Breen as directors. Thomson will advise Outplay in a non-executive chair capacity, while Breen has joined the board as a non-executive director and will also advise the company. Douglas Hare explained, "Karen and Randy bring a wealth of complementary experience and expertise to Outplay Entertainment. Karen's marketing background and track record with large-scale consumer-facing internet and mobile businesses combined with Randy's remarkable creative, production and business expertise will be invaluable to Outplay's ambitious growth plans for 2012 and beyond." Breen added, "Social and mobile gaming have only begun to show their full potential, and I believe Outplay are well positioned to become a major player in the industry."