The positions were filled respectively by Darlan Monterisi and Gili Brundno. Both have over 20 years experience in their respective fields and will be part of Playtika’s ambitious plans for the future. These hires come after a turbulent period in the company’s history.
Many new hires bring a lot of experience
The position of CHRO for Gili Brudno is responsible for the development of the mobile gaming company’s global talent strategy. It also focuses on improving the employee experience. She has held previous positions at Teva Pharmaceuticals and SAP as well as BioCatch and other large-scale startups.
Playtika is fortunate to have Gili and Darlan, who bring a wealth of experience and perspectives. These exceptional leaders will help Playtika reach its full potential among the diverse stakeholders. This will allow us to realize our ambitious vision.
Shlomi Aizenberg, COO, Playtika
Darlan Monterisi will be taking over the role of global head of communications. She is also an executive vice president. With years of experience in leading and creating communications programs, she has an impressive career. Playtika recruited her to manage the company’s public relations, including brand management and reputation management.
Monterisi will also be working with other executives as a trusted advisor on all aspects the business. Although her most recent position was at artificial intelligence (AI), Dataminr, she also held previous roles as a communications manager for Rockstar Games or CA Technologies. She served as a US Marine Corps public affairs officer.
Bring new life into your company
The company’s new leadership hires are a wonderful addition and a good news story for the company. However, the Israeli-based game developer has not been in easy times recently. Playtika had announced at the beginning of the month that it would cease developing new games and will stop launching them in the near future.
These mixed results, along with those in the 4Q22 financials and the annual 2022 financials, did not create a positive outlook. While revenue increased 1.3% year over year (YoY), from $2.58 Billion in 2021, to $2.62 Billion in 2022. Net income fell from $308.5 M in 2021 and $275.3 Million in 2022. Comparing the full periods, free cashflow was slightly lower as well.
Playtika was also experiencing its second round of layoffs in the middle of December 2022. It was planning to lay off around 10-15% of its workforce. The June wave saw only 6%, or 250, being laid off. Although all four stories were interrupted by positive developments, others saw this as a negative sign.
The company is still very profitable, so hiring new executives will be a good idea to bring fresh ideas to the company. In addition, new expertise can help optimize resources and propel the company towards its “ambitious vision,” Aizenberg stated in the press release that announced the new hires.
