Neon Machine, the studio behind the highly anticipated extraction shooter Shrapnel, has announced significant leadership changes as it gears up for the game’s free-to-play launch in 2025. The studio revealed exclusively to Decrypt that Ken Rosman, a seasoned veteran in the video game industry with a background at Microsoft’s Xbox division working on popular titles like Halo Wars and Sunset Overdrive, has been appointed as the new CEO of Neon Machine.
Rosman will be tasked with guiding Shrapnel through its full public rollout, while Neon Machine co-founder and former CEO Mark Long will transition to an advisory role to support the studio during this leadership transition. Long praised Rosman’s track record of successfully shipping and supporting live operations for high-profile games, expressing confidence in his ability to lead the team towards their launch goals.
In addition to Rosman’s appointment, Dave Johnson will take the lead on the Shrapnel project, with Don Norbury, CTO at Neon Machine and former Shrapnel studio head, overseeing the company’s Moonshot suite of Web3 game development tools. These leadership changes were prompted by the studio’s need to remain adaptable during the game’s lengthy development cycle, ensuring a strong focus on execution as they approach the game’s launch.
Neon Machine also announced that it is raising new funding in a round led by the Blizzard Avalanche Ecosystem Fund, with participation from Griffin Gaming Partners and Polychain Capital. The studio plans to share more details on the funding round in the first quarter of 2025, following their last fundraise in October 2023.
Shrapnel, a first-person shooter for PC, is centered around securing and extracting resources in competitive online matches. Built on the Avalanche blockchain, the game features an L1 instance dedicated to Shrapnel assets, including the SHRAP token and NFTs representing unique in-game assets, such as player-designed items.
The leadership changes at Neon Machine come amidst an ongoing legal battle with majority shareholder Cort Javarone, CEO of investment firm 4D Factory. Studio founders accused Javarone of staging a “coup” to take over the studio, while Javarone claimed that studio leadership had gone rogue. The studio declined to comment on the current status of the lawsuit but emphasized that it remains focused on delivering the best possible game experience for players.
As Neon Machine prepares for the launch of Shrapnel, the studio continues to push boundaries in game development and blockchain integration, setting the stage for an exciting new era in the gaming industry. Stay tuned for more updates on Shrapnel and Neon Machine’s progress in the coming months.