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3BlackDot Appoint Marwan Abderrazzaq to lead game development role

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3BlackDot, the multimedia entertainment company launched last month by former Machinima executives Angelo Pullen and Luke Stapleton in partnership with YouTube gaming influencers Tom Cassell and Adam Montoya, recently announced the appointment of seasoned gaming industry executive and former Machinima Director, Marwan Abderrazzaq, to lead game development for the company. In his new role as vice president of game development, Abderrazzaq will be responsible for introducing new IP's into the marketplace, building on the success of the company's first influencer-driven property, Zombie Killer Squad.

In his new role as vice president of game development, Abderrazzaq will be responsible for introducing new IP's into the marketplace

Abderrazzaq has an 18 year history in the video game industry, having served as a producer with many major publishers and developers including Electronic Arts (Motor City Online), Collective Studios (Silent Hill: Homecoming), Activision (Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: World at War, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (Fear 3). Prior to joining 3BlackDot, he was in charge of building and maintaining various cross-platform entertainment franchises as senior director of franchise at Machinima. Whilst serving at Machinima he worked with numerous high profile studio partners such as Microsoft and Warner Bros to launch premium content on the Machinima Network such as Mortal Kombat: Legacy II, Street Fighter: Assassins Fist and Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, a prequel to the hit Xbox 360 game with almost unprecedented scope, that represented the largest investment Microsoft had ever put behind a live-action Halo project.

Footage from Zombie Killer Squad, which features popular You-tubers as playable characters

Pullen, who himself served as head of affiliate development at Machinima until April last year, has prior experience working with Abderrazzaq and feels that his “Depth of experience with major gaming franchises, multiple platforms and all facets of production in the gaming space is unmatched." He says that Abderrazzaq will be a driving force behind the company's “Core operating principle to deliver compelling influencer-driven content with the highest level of audience engagement." Abderrazzaq is “Eager to dive into the world of 3BD” and apply his expertise in “Building multi-platform properties." He says his top priority will be “To introduce the highest quality games for a community that is ravenous for content and features a strong influencer component."

Abderrazzaq is “Eager to dive into the world of 3BD” and apply his expertise in “Building multi-platform properties."

Other recent hires made by 3BlackDot include Hank Stepleton, the former co-executive producer of Duck Dynasty and Billy the Exterminator. He was hired back in June to lead the company's production arm PickAxe, and is responsible for developing video content. They also hired Jessica Fischer, previously of Warner Bros, to head up its marketing efforts. The company soft-launched last year with the release of Zombie Killer Squad, the free-to-play mobile game, which had over 2.6 million installs since is was launched in November 2013. The company's main goal is to develop its audience by harnessing the power and influence of the YouTube community, but it also creates and builds campaigns for entertainment properties and brands such as Machete Kills for 20th Century Fox, Volkswagen #NowYouKnow, Office Depot and Disney Infinity.

Official 3BlackDot Website (coming soon)

Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK who has now wasted a solid 30 minutes of his morning playing (and failing spectacularly at) Zombie Killer Squad.

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