Legendary Digital president Kathy Vrabeck exits
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Kathy Vrabeck, a veteran video game executive recruited in 2009 to head Legendary Pictures’ digital efforts, is exiting her post as the company plans to focus on its movie, TV and comic book businesses.
People familiar with the matter confirmed that Vrabeck, who previously served as president of casual games at Electronic Arts Inc. and president of Activision, is leaving Legendary at the end of the month.
Vrabeck was brought to the company by chief executive Thomas Tull with ambitions of producing content for the Web and mobile devices and purchasing a video game developer. Legendary in recent years weighed acquiring Epic Games, maker of the Gears of War Xbox 360 series, and Jagex, a British developer behind the popular online game Runescape, people close to the company said. Neither deal was completed.
Vrabeck led those efforts and also oversaw an iPhone game based on ‘Ninja Assassin’ and a digital comic book based on ‘Clash of the Titans,’ both movies co-financed by Legendary.
Over the past several months, however, Legendary has decided to focus its energies on film as well as new comic book publishing and television production divisions, the people familiar with the situation said. Any future digital initiatives are expected to occur through partnerships rather than investment or acquisitions by the company. That left little for Vrabeck to do in her job.
As she considers her next professional move, Vrabeck is investing personally in the e-mail newsletter GeekChic Daily and will represent Legendary, which is also an investor, on its board of directors.
Legendary, which produces movies in partnership with Warner Bros., co-financed the blockbusters ‘Inception,’ ‘The Hangover’ and ‘The Dark Knight,’ among others.
Tull recently led a management buyout of Legendary’s original investors that gave him tighter control of the company.
— Ben Fritz
Related:
Legendary Pictures forges into comic books
Tull gets control of Legendary in buyout of original investors