Nominee information:
- Full Name: Greg Canessa
- Contact Information: Telegram: Contact @gregcanessa
- Current Occupation: COO & President of Horizon Blockchain Games
- Country of Residence / Time Zone: United States of America - PST
About your nomination:
1. (Optional) If nominating someone else, please describe your relationship and confirm that they are aware of their nomination.
Nominating Greg Canessa, COO and President at Horizon Blockchain Games who is aware of the nomination.
2. Please identify the domain where your nominee demonstrates the strongest proficiency or mastery.
- Operations Expert: Greg has a tenured history in gaming, leading operations at several of the largest studios & publishers for over 25 years.
3. Provide specific examples from their experience to support your selection.
- GM and Creator, Xbox Live Arcade at Microsoft (2000-07): created the first console-based digital games ecosystem in history and delivered a $100M+ business for Microsoft. Wrote business plan, secured funding, staffed team, led product definition, shipped 75+ titles and worked with 90+ developers and publishers. Published 20+ titles under Microsoft Game Studios and developed numerous franchises, including Minecraft.
- Vice President, Mobile, Activision Blizzard (2011-14): built and ran the mobile division at the world’s #1 video game publisher as GM and head of studios. Shipped award-winning games based on the top-selling Call of Duty and Skylanders franchises, Pitfall!, Wipeout, and more for iOS and Android platforms. Managed three studios, demand generation, user acquisition and partnership marketing, platform partnerships, publishing (in partnership with Flurry) and team of 100+ with P&L responsibility.
- Project Director, Battle.net at Blizzard (2009-11): GM and head of product management and development for the next generation of Battle.net, Blizzard’s core AAA game service and social network serving 35M+ users worldwide. Successfully integrated new service into the StarCraft, World of Warcraft, and Diablo franchises. Drove social and community efforts, web presence and branding amongst other efforts.
- Vice President, Video Game Platforms, PopCap Games (2007-09): GM and commercial leader of PopCap’s non-PC games efforts. Brought PopCap’s top-selling franchises (Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, Bejeweled, Zuma) to consoles and other platforms. Led product management, brand marketing and partnerships, and drove multiple studio M&A deals at the Series A/B stage. Now a division of Electronic Arts.
- SVP Studios & GM, GSN Games (division of Sony) (2014-17): GSN is a leading developer and publisher of social/casual games for various platforms with two top-20 grossing franchises on iOS and Google Play. Greg served as GM and studio head, managing and growing the company’s skill business and evolution, enabling competitive play of the world’s biggest and most popular mobile games for free or real money via a new casual eSports platform. Also managed internal and external development of other free-to-play mobile/social titles. Drove brand/product marketing, demand gen, UA, social/community, PR/comms, BD/partnerships and multiple M&A deals. Managed multiple development studios at various points and staff of 250+ with direct P&L responsibility.
- Global Director, Strategy & Business Operations, Games, Google (2017-23): Led key strategic, operational, marketing and studio functions for Google’s AAA cloud gaming businesses (consumer and SaaS), working closely with internal and external development partners. Managed product planning & strategy, go-to-market, analytics & insights, promotions, monetization, pricing and more with a global and diverse team. Also drove key initiatives for Identity/Account and Mobile within Google Core at the leadership level.
4. Are you involved with any other networks from a governance perspective? If so, please list the DAOs and networks.
No
5. Do you work for a gaming related company? If yes, please list the company or companies you are employed by.
Yes, Horizon Blockchain Games which develops the Sequence platform.
6. Does the company you work for intend on applying for any GCP programs?
Don’t intend on applying during council tenure.
7. Please share any relevant links, bios, or publications showcasing your/your nominee’s work
Greg is an accomplished and passionate executive leader with 30+ years experience in the gaming industry at Xbox/Microsoft, Battle.net/Blizzard, Activision, GSN/Sony, PopCap Games (acquired by EA), Google, and Apple. Today, he serves as President & COO at Sequence, the award-winning development platform for integrating web3 into games.
Greg has spent his career focused on game platforms, publishing and ecosystem creation, and played a key role in the advent and proliferation of gaming innovations including multiplayer gaming, digital distribution, social gaming, matchmaking, cloud gaming, and free-to-play. He views web3 and blockchain as critical technologies that will transform the gaming industry. Some of his accomplishments include:
- Creator & GM of Xbox Live Arcade: pioneered the first console-based digital games ecosystem in history, shipped 75+ titles, worked with 90+ developers and publishers, published and developed numerous franchises, including UNO, Bejeweled and Minecraft. Also served in strategy and product development roles on Xbox and Xbox 360.
- Project Director of Battle.net: defined and led Blizzard’s core AAA game service and social network serving 35M+ users worldwide, successfully integrating Battle.net into the World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises.
- Vice President, Mobile at Activision Blizzard: built and ran the mobile division at the world’s #1 game publisher as GM and head of studios, shipped award-winning games and franchises such as Call of Duty, Skylanders, Pitfall!, and Wipeout; managed three studios, user acquisition, platform partnerships, and publishing.
- Deep experience shipping and developing core AAA brands Call of Duty, StarCraft, Diablo, World of Warcraft, Sonic, etc., and indie/casual brands Tetris, Pac-man, Peggle, UNO, etc., with 35+ game credits.
- Global Director, Strategy & Operations, Games at Google: led key strategic, operational, marketing and studio functions for Google’s AAA cloud gaming business, and drove key initiatives for Identity/Account and Mobile within Google Core at leadership level.
As a hardcore gamer who’s inspired by new technologies, innovations, and platforms that lower access barriers, drive new and awesome experiences for gamers, and create new business opportunities for developers, Greg believes web3 is the next disruptive technology to revolutionize gaming.
Web3 solves developer problems by enhancing user acquisition strategies, elevating player engagement and retention, and unlocks new economies and monetization models, all while empowering players with new gaming experiences, ownership, cross-game utility, and economic incentives.
With Sequence, Greg plays an instrumental role in delivering value to the Arbitrum ecosystem by bringing content, ranging from indies like Mighty Action Heroes to mid-size studios like Saltwater Games to one of the world’s largest AAA publishers to be announced on July 30th, to mobile publishers like TapNation with 60M+ monthly active users and 1B+ downloads, to build on Arbitrum chains. Sequence plays a key role in enabling the Xai, ApeChain, and XR One ecosystems—each leveraging Arbitrum Orbit—with the Sequence developer platform as well. Greg also played a critical role in landing the Sequence x Google Cloud partnership in which Google selected Sequence as its preferred web3 infrastructure partner for games building in the EVM ecosystem.
8. Are you willing to complete appropriate non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), KYC requirements, and other necessary documents?
Yes
References:
- Director, Google Cloud Gaming
- Former General Manager, Xbox & Microsoft Game Studios
- Former EVP, Blizzard Entertainment
- Former Group Product Manager, Xbox Live Arcade and Head of Product, Popcap Games
Names available upon request.
Nominator contact info:
- Full Name: James Lawton
- Contact Information: jlaw@horizon.io OR Telegram: Contact @Horizon_JamesLawton
- Current Occupation: Head of Developer Relations
- Country of Residence / Time Zone: WEST