Polygon Studios announced in December 2021 that it will invest $100 million in gaming startup GameOn for future Web3-related projects.
Ryan Wyatt, YouTube’s head of gaming, has announced his departure from YouTube and Google to join blockchain startup Polygon Studios.
Despite YouTube’s own growing interest in blockchain and NFTs, Wyatt says it’s time for a new venture. “I came to YouTube almost eight years ago to help give gamers a voice and represent the gamer’s needs every day,” Wyatt wrote on Twitter.
Wyatt will be in charge of Polygon’s non-tech initiatives.
In my role at Polygon Studios, I will be focused on growing the developer ecosystem through investment, marketing, and developer support and bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3. I will be leading the Polygon Studios organization across Gaming, Entertainment, Fashion, News, Sports, and more.”
Wyatt spent almost seven years at YouTube, where he supervised the company’s foray into game streaming and the high-profile poaching of Twitch streamers including Valkyrae, DrLupo, and TimTheTatman.
Wyatt’s departure exemplifies a consistent trend of high-profile CEOs embracing web3 technology and leaving high-profile roles for established digital behemoths, sometimes accepting equivalent responsibilities at much smaller firms or organisations. The CFO of Lyft stepped resigned a few weeks ago to take the same job at NFT auction firm OpenSea.
A growing number of IT businesses and video game studios are grappling with how to use blockchain technology. Ubisoft, for example, launched a beta test of its Ubisoft Quartz platform this month, which will allow gamers to purchase NFT materials to use in games.
Several YouTube executives, including Wyatt, have lately left the firm. Susanne Daniels, the founding global president of YouTube Originals, announced her resignation, which was quickly followed by YouTube’s news that its original content studio would close after six years. Jamie Byrne, YouTube’s senior director of creator relationships, and Heather Rivera, YouTube’s VP and global head of product partnerships, are both going.
