decrypt.co
Neon Machine, the studio behind the Avalanche-based extraction shooter Shrapnel, revealed exclusively to Decrypt that it has made several leadership changes, including appointing a new CEO, ahead of the game’s free-to-play launch in 2025.
Ken Rosman, a 20-year veteran of the video game industry who spent many years at Microsoft’s Xbox division working on games like Halo Wars and Sunset Overdrive, has taken over Neon Machine’s chief executive role and will help shepherd Shrapnel toward its full public rollout.
Neon Machine co-founder and former CEO Mark Long has transitioned to the role of an advisor and will continue to support the studio amid the leadership shift. In a statement, Long noted Rosman’s history of shipping and supporting live operations on high-profile games.
“When we started Shrapnel in 2020, we had a dream to break the mold of the traditional game development cycle and design a blockbuster-quality shooter where players shape the game and truly own their creations,” Long said. “Now that we are getting close to launching Shrapnel, it’s time for new leadership.”
While Rosman will head Neon Machine on the whole, Dave Johnson will lead the Shrapnel project, and Don Norbury—CTO at Neon Machine and previously Shrapnel studio head—will oversee the company’s Moonshot suite of Web3 game development tools.
When asked what prompted the leadership shifts, a Neon Machine spokesperson mentioned the need for a studio to remain adaptable during a game's lengthy development cycle.
“To launch, a game team needs extreme focus on execution,” the spokesperson said. “For us, this includes global live-ops, retention mechanics, evolution of features in the game and marketplace, new partnerships, and more.”
“Ken is one of the best in the business at this kind of disciplined execution, having proven himself running AAA studios and shipping AAA games for decades,” the rep added. “Mark is still advising, and Ken already has the whole team feeling positive and working hard toward our launch goals.”
Amid the leadership shakeup, Neon Machine told Decrypt that it is raising new funding in a round led by the Blizzard Avalanche Ecosystem Fund. Griffin Gaming Partners and Polychain Capital are also involved.
The studio plans to reveal full details on the raise in the first quarter of 2025. Neon Machine announced its last fundraise in October 2023, with a $20 million round led by Polychain.
Shrapnel is a first-person shooter for PC that revolves around securing and extracting resources while engaging in competitive online matches. Released in early access on the Epic Games Store in February, it allows players to buy access and participate in limited-time events as the game continues to evolve.
✦ New Game Mode ✦
Excited to unveil that we’ve been working on a new mode that brings the action closer and amplifies the heart-pounding moments you love!
➜ Form your squad
➜ Collect Sigma and bank it
➜ Defend your stockpile - or steal enemy's
➜ New Sigma abilities
➜ A… pic.twitter.com/Q7FdsnEUQM— SHRAPNEL 🔺 (@playSHRAPNEL) December 2, 2024
The game is being built around assets on the Avalanche blockchain, where Neon Machine has launched a dedicated instance called an L1 (formerly subnet) for the game. A SHRAP token is already live, and the game will include NFTs that represent unique assets, including player-designed items in the game.
Neon Machine’s leadership changes also come amid an ongoing legal battle with majority shareholder Cort Javarone, CEO of investment firm 4D Factory, who studio founders alleged in November 2023 had staged a “coup” to take over the studio.
Javarone, for his part, alleged that studio leadership had gone rogue and refused to work with the board.
Neon Machine declined comment this week on the current status of the lawsuit, but said that it hopes to have an update in the first quarter of 2025.
“It is not a distraction to the team's focus on building the best game possible,” a studio spokesperson said.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair