Amazon’s Twitch Hires Michael Aragon, Former GM of PlayStation Network and Ellation’s VRV
Twitch, the game-broadcasting and social-video company owned by Amazon, has hired Michael Aragon as senior VP of content.
In the newly created position, Aragon reports directly to Twitch CEO Emmett Shear. Aragon is joining the San Francisco-based company to oversee global broadcaster partnerships, eSports, Twitch Studios, content development and content marketing teams.
Most recently, Aragon worked at Ellation, parent company of anime subscription-video service Crunchyroll and VRV, where he served as GM of VRV and oversaw the launch of the SVOD-channel aggregation service last year. Ellation is owned by Otter Media, a joint venture of AT&T and Chernin Group.
Prior to Ellation, Aragon was VP and GM of Sony’s PlayStation Network. During his eight years at Sony, he managed PlayStation Network’s digital video, music, and original content services in over 30 countries. Before that Aragon worked in corporate development at Sony Pictures Entertainment; earlier in his career, he worked for management consulting firm Booz Allen and Intel. He holds an MBA from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico.
Aragon, in a statement provided by Twitch, said the company’s social and interactive elements have helped it “cultivate a loyal and passionate community.”
“As a lifelong fan of gaming and geek culture, it’s appealing to elevate this platform that’s focused on helping content creators thrive, as well as to explore new ways their ideas and aspirations can come to life,” Aragon said. “My goal is to foster the growth of content for Twitch’s core video-game audience, while nurturing the communities that have expanded the platform’s boundaries beyond gaming.”
In another recent hire, Twitch tapped Matt McCloskey, formerly COO of Microsoft’s 343 Industries (which maintains the “Halo” franchise), for the newly created role of VP of commerce.
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