Videogame streaming platform听Antstream听Arcade has expanded its internal studio team with games industry veteran Mike Rouse joining to lead its production team and help build out its internal studio.听听
This move comes during a period of record user growth for the company following its establishment as the world鈥檚 first free-to-play game streaming platform.听听
He joins听Antstream听from 2K鈥檚 Brighton based Hangar 13, where he was Head of Production and responsible for developing and co-ordinating strategy across the studio鈥檚 four global locations and 400 employees.听听
Rouse听has听over 20 years’ experience in the games industry, with a career that includes key roles at Microsoft as Studio Director overseeing the incubation and development of Microsoft听Hololens听and its future tech studio, and at Sony as Dev Director creating the PSN Trophy system and several AAA Titles.听听
He brings this extensive experience in pushing the boundaries of how players interact with games to his new role at听Antstream听Arcade, as it continues to expand its offering.听
Rouse said: 鈥淎s a lifelong fan of what we now have to call 鈥渧intage鈥� games, working at听Antstream听Arcade represents the perfect combination of my passion for retro gaming and changing how players interact with games themselves.听听
鈥�I think it is very likely that we are nearing the end of physical consoles – with physical media losing relevance to the rise of cloud-based gaming, it is all but inevitable. As the first company to successfully launch a free-to-play platform with thousands of games,听Antstream听is well placed to be at the forefront of this change.鈥�听
Steve Cottam, CEO of听Antstream听said: 鈥淏etween our new licensing partnerships with the likes of Disney and Bandai, and our decision to adopt a free-to-play model, we鈥檙e in a period of immense change here at听Antstream.听听
鈥�Bringing on someone with Mike鈥檚 expertise and experience in altering how people play games is a huge boost for us as video game streaming continues to drive the game industry forward as a whole. We look forward to working with him in taking our library of iconic video games to the biggest audience possible.鈥�听
Rouse鈥檚 love of retro gaming is on full display on his Retro Gamer Boy YouTube channel, where he posts weekly unique videos delving into his own extensive retro gaming collection, and discussing the best retro games and consoles ever made.听听
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