Jim Darling joins Kwalee as Chairman

Kwalee ( http://kwalee.com/ ) are very fortunate indeed that Jim Darling has agreed to bring his considerable expertise to the company in the role of Company Chairman. This is a major boost to the management structure and a big step in getting the startup further along the road to being a thriving commercial organisation. Jim is no stranger to technology and to startups, with experience in the contact lens business in both the UK and Canada. Whilst working in his own business in Canada he designed and put into production the first disposable contact lenses. In the video game industry Jim was instrumental in running Galactic Software, set up in 1982, with his sons. A game development company which was a great success and which produced and sourced games, including the industry's first proper Games Designer. He then joined his sons in setting up Codemasters in 1986 so as to become a publisher in their own right. This rapidly grew to become a world class game publisher with Jim as its Chairman, a role he only relinquished on the successful sale of the company in 2007. Jim is widely known and highly respected throughout the game industry, at Kwalee he brings strategic vision and commercial guidance, both areas where he has vast and highly successful experience. Whist this is a non executive role, he will still be making a considerable commitment to the business and is very keen to act as the company ambassador to a wider world. David Darling, Kwalee founder and CEO, is obviously very pleased to have Jim on board: “Obviously I have worked with my father, Jim, all my life so I know just how good he is at what he does. When he agreed to join us as Chairman I knew that it would be a massive help to our commercial success. Many people do not realise what a huge role he played in our earlier businesses and at Kwalee I am sure that he will bring us skills and abilities that nobody else has.” Jim is looking forward to the new challenges: “So far this reminds me very much of the budget 8 bit computer game market, with the benefits of instant global online sales and distribution. There is a clear need to differentiate Kwalee and its products from the competition which is something that David and his team are well capable of doing.”

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