Bad Robot Games Appoints Industry Veteran Anna Sweet As CEO

Dade Hayes
·3 min read

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Bad Robot Games, the entity founded by J.J. Abrams, Katie McGrath and Bad Robot, has appointed industry veteran Anna Sweet as CEO.

Sweet will join Bad Robot Games’ President Dave Baronoff in leading the outfit, which was formed in 2018 with initial financing from Tencent and Warner Brothers Interactive.

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In a 15-year career in the video game industry, Sweet has had stints at Facebook’s Oculus VR unit and the game developer Valve.

“I first met Bad Robot 10 years ago during our collaborations while at Valve and have been huge fans of JJ, Katie and the team since then – as they represent one of the most forward looking creative talents across all mediums,” Sweet said in a press release. “As video games become a primary way to explore and experience new worlds and stories, I believe Bad Robot Games is uniquely suited to build something truly special and I am incredibly excited to be a part of the team.”

Baronoff, who has been with Bad Robot since 2006, said, “From the moment we first collaborated while Anna was at Valve, I’ve been looking for opportunities to work with her again. I am beyond thrilled she is now an integral part of our team. In addition to being a truly wonderful human being, she is a brilliant, innovative leader, and deeply passionate about games. She will undoubtedly help lead us to incredible heights.”

“Anna brings a proven track record and unparalleled expertise to Bad Robot, plus a sensibility and leadership style that will deliver tremendous value to Bad Robot Games. Alongside Dave, we now have two vibrant leaders to help grow the company as we enter our next phase of growth,” Bad Robot President and COO Brian Weinstein added.

Sweet worked on the original business team at Valve that built the Steam platform, which accelerated gaming’s transition to digital distribution. In more than six years at Valve, she led business and product development strategies that grew Steam into the world’s largest PC digital distribution platform.

After leaving Valve in 2015, Sweet led the content and developer strategy teams for Oculus and Facebook’s VR products. As Head of Developer Strategy at Oculus, she ran content strategy for the launch of the Rift and helped lay the groundwork for making the social platform the place to be for virtual reality.

In the three years since leaving Oculus, she has helped scale multiple venture backed start-ups and advising venture funds on the gaming industry.

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