Polygon Studios Secures Hires From EA, Amazon and Others, As Web2 Talent Join Exodus to Web3

Polygon Studios, the developer relationship arm of Polygon Technology, is helping web2 and web3 companies build decentralized apps on the Polygon chain, announces five new hires to spearhead its growth in the Web3 blockchain gaming space. The new hires join Polygon Studio’s recently appointed CEO, Ryan Wyatt, who previously headed YouTube’s Gaming vertical before migrating to the Web3 industry.

Polygon Studios’ new hires include C-level executives Michael Blank as Chief Operating Officer and Young Ko as Chief Financial Officer.

Michael Blank brings a wealth of gaming experience to Polygon Studios after almost two decades with Electronic Arts, a leading game developer and publisher. Blank served as Senior Vice President of Player Network, the company’s strategy to connect and engage EA’s more than 300 million users. In that capacity, he led global teams that drove EA’s direct to consumer digital gaming platform, social ecosystem and the rapid growth of EA Play, the publisher’s multi-platform gaming subscription. During his time at Electronic Arts, Michael held a variety of senior leadership roles, including Executive Producer for several of EA’s prominent game franchises.

Polygon Studios has also welcomed Young Ko, who cites nearly 16 years of progressive financial and entrepreneurial expertise across entertainment, music, fashion, and real estate. Young spent the past 9 years as the VP of Finance at Penske Media (brands include Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, and SXSW) where he oversaw the Finance, Accounting, Treasury, and Global Tax teams.

Joining Young and Mike is Urvit Goel — VP, Gaming Business Development — and Charnjit Bansi — VP, Game Design — who also cut their teeth in the Web2 arena.

Urvit brings a wealth of cross-functional experience leading teams in Finance, Marketing, and Business Development during his nearly decade long tenure at Amazon. Most notably, Urvit has experience building long term strategic partnerships with the world’s largest game publishers on a global scale. He has built and led Business Development teams driving a variety of gaming initiatives for Amazon, most recently launching Amazon’s Cloud Gaming business.

Charnjit brings over 20 years of intimate knowledge of AAA Web2 game leadership and development, all from world-class game developers including Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games — creators of the renowned Call of Duty franchise. Most recently, Charnjit served as Director of Product Management at Mythical Games, a game technology company and publisher of the blockchain MMO, Blankos Block Party.

Polygon Studios also welcomes gaming industry veteran and recent EA alumni, Ben Watley. Ben will serve as Senior Director of Strategy, Gaming at Polygon Studios, working closely with Young, Mike, Charnjit, and Urvit to expand Polygon’s Web3 products and services. Working alongside Ben is ex-NASA software engineer and Riot Games strategist, Will Matteson, who joins Polygon Studios as Corporate Strategy Manager.

The new hires closely follow the appointment of Ryan Wyatt as CEO of Polygon Studios after seven years spearheading YouTube’s gaming vertical.

Ryan Wyatt, CEO of Polygon Studios, said, “We’re thrilled to be attracting such high-calibre talent as we build out the dream team of Web3. The combined expertise and perspectives from both the traditional and blockchain industries will be invaluable in growing the developer ecosystem and bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3.”