Yuga Labs, the company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks NFT collections, has a new CEO: Daniel Alegre. The executive resigned as president and COO of Activision Blizzard to join the NFT startup on April 1.
“Couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter,” he tweeted. Alegre has been a key player in Activision Blizzard’s growth over the past years, overseeing popular gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo and Candy Crush.
Today is my last day as President and CEO of Activision Blizzard. Thanks to the amazing teams who create truly epic games. Tomorrow I officially start as CEO of Yuga Labs. I couldn’t be more excited for this next chapter. pic.twitter.com/eo3RfIyz0q
— Daniel Alegre (@dalegre) March 31, 2023
Executive has been involved in the gaming, entertainment and technology industries for many years. According to on his LinkedIn profile, he worked for German media conglomerate Bertelsmann for nearly six years before joining Google, where he worked for more than 16 years in various leadership positions overseeing areas such as global shopping revenue, engagement in the retail ecosystem, as well as operations in Asia Pacific and Latin America.
Yuga Labs announced Alegre’s arrival in December. In a press release at the time, the Executive he said “the company’s pipeline of products, partnerships and IP represents a major opportunity to define the metaverse.”
Opportunities will also come with challenges. A class action lawsuit filed in December in the United States accuses the creators of BAYC of misleading investors about the financial benefits of Yuga Securities, as well as the use of celebrity promoters to attract more investors. Investors who bought BAYC and APE between April 23, 2021 and December 8, 2022 may be entitled to compensation, according to the Rosen law firm.
Additionally, Yuga Labs co-founder Wylie Aronow took a leave of absence in January to prioritize his health after being diagnosed with congestive heart failure. It is not clear when he will be able to assume his duties.
Alegre’s arrival it is considered a bold move in the NFT industry. Kieran Warwick, co-founder of blockchain role-playing game Illuvium, said Yuga Labs’ new hire is “huge for all of GameFi,” suggesting that Web3 games will start the next crypto bull run.
All right. I believe @yugalabs now they will make a good game. This is huge for all of GameFi.
Every day more news comes out about new players from traditional games entering the space. DeFi 2.0 is cool. But gameplay will be the narrative that kicks off the next run.
— Kieran.eth ♊️ (@KieranWarwick) December 19, 2022
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