MCV Pacific Pillar of Industry Awards, 2015

IGEA congratulates it’s Chairman, Edward Fong and former Board Member, Darren MacBeth on receiving ‘Pillar of the Industry’ Awards at last night’s MCV Pacific Awards. Both Edward and Darren have done an amazing amount of work for the industry,  which you can read below, and we are delighted they are deservedly being recognised with this award.  Congratulations Edward and Darren.

EDWARD FONG

Edward has been a main stay of the Australian Games Industry for over 20 years, starting his career with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment as Marketing Manager.

In 1997 Edward moved to GT Interactive as Marketing Manager. After three years with the firm, he moved across to Atari Infogrames as Marketing Director.

In July of 2002, Edward made the move to Ubisoft, where he went from strength-to-strength. Over the past thirteen odd years, Edward rose from Marketing Manager to his current position of Managing Director, a position he has held for over eight years.

Edward has helped launch many iconic brands in the market, including; Assassin’s Creed, Metal Gear Solid, the original Oddworld, Grand Theft Auto, Driver and Duke Nukem – achievements he holds close to his heart.

Outside of these roles, Edward has been a long time driving force with IGEA. In addition to being a long time board member, Edward has sat as Chairman for IGEA since March of 2010. He was heavily involved with countless industry initiatives, most recently, the introduction of the R18+ legislation in Australia, establishing thriving consumer events and the ever popular, IGEA Soccer Tournament.

DARREN MACBETH

Darren entered the Australian industry back in 1993, as a sales manager for Electronic Arts. Darren held several positions in his time with the publisher, including Marketing Manager, before departing to begin work with GT Interactive as their Regional Sales Manager.

Darren once again held multiple titles with GT, including Business Development Manager before he joined Ubisoft as Managing Director, taking the company’s business direct to retail, away from the previous distribution model.

In 2007 Darren moved across to spear head the Australian business for SEGA, again in the role of Managing Director. With SEGA’s decision to alter its global distribution practices in 2012, Darren established Five Star Games, picking up the publishers business across the region. Since the companies formation just three years ago, Five Star have added additional partners, including, Tell Tale Games, Sold Out and Milestone.

In addition to his triumphs in business, Darren has played a large role within IGEA for a long time. Darren was a founding member of IGEA, sat on the board from 2002 through to 2010, serving as Director between 2005 and 2010 and Vice President from 2004 to 2007. Darren was also a driving force in establishing the inaugural IGEA awards in 2006.