Alex Cohen Hired By Akamon Entertainment


Thursday April 24 ,2014 : SPANISH GAMES DEVELOPER IN EXPANSION MODE
 
Barcelona-based Akamon hires new CPO and acquires a third studio in Israel.
 
Akamon Entertainment, a developer of multi-channel social casino games with its sights set firmly on Southern Europe and Latin America, has announced the appointment of Alex Cohen as chief product officer, and the addition of a third production studio in Tel Aviv, Israel.
 
Cohen will report directly to Akamon CEO Vicenç Martí and will be responsible for optimising Akamon´s portfolio of 40 games along with new game development that features a clear focus on mobile platforms.
 
Cohen, who comes to Akamon from Quickspin in Sweden, where he was head of game design, is an industry veteran with a decade of experience that includes six years at IGT.
 
Akamon has acquired the studio in Israel to complement its facilities in Barcelona and Valencia in Spain. The new studio employs 10 game designers and developers.
 
The company has agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in the studio, previously called Xpinator, which had already developed games for Akamon, including its multi-platform Akamon Slots.
 
Akamon has secured a series of options to acquire 100 percent of the studio, which will be headed by Akamon´s Israel head of studio Zvika Alon, another industry veteran and former CTO and head of product at 888.com. Alon will report to Cohen
 
Completing the product re-organisation, the teams at the other two Akamon studios, one in Barcelona (headquarters with a focus on social casino games) and another in Valencia (which will be focused on portal games), will also report to Alex Cohen.
 
Akamon CEO Vicenç Martí says that in the three years he has been CEO of Akamon, the current changes are the most profound for the company.
 
"I am positive the quality of Akamon’s products will reflect the phenomenal addition of talent Alex and Zvika´s leadership will bring,” he said, revealing that the changes had been planned over the last six months.
 
Akamon's wide range of games all incorporate social features that give players the opportunity to be a part of a global gaming community of more than 20 million registered users.
 
Akamon was founded in July 2011 by Carlos Blanco on the foundations of Mundijuegos.com, a Spanish portal of traditional and casino games. The company has grown from 6 to 20 million users and expanded to 7 countries in just two-and-a-half years.
 
Since it started business, the company has grown through local portals in Italy, France, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela and Argentina, and through white-label agreements with international partners.
 
In total, around 2.5 million customers return to play every month, and the company boasts 433,000 daily active users, helping it achieve over Euro 1 million a month in revenues.