Board of directors

Appointment date:
November 2017

Experience:
Co-founder of Sumo Digital in 2003, growing the business before a trade sale to Foundation 9. Carl then led a management buy-out with Northedge Capital in 2014, followed by a secondary buy-out with Perwyn in 2016. This was followed by the flotation of Sumo Group plc on AIM in 2017. Carl received TIGA’s coveted Most Outstanding Individual Award in 2015 and he holds an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University.

External appointments:

• Board member of TIGA

Skills brought to the Board:
Business leadership, strategy, M&A, organic growth, client relationships, contracts and negotiations

Sector experience:
Over 25 years’ extensive experience in the video games industry having held senior roles previously at Gremlin Interactive and Infogrames

Appointment date:
January 2022

Experience:

Andy has held a number of senior finance positions in the technology and telecommunications sectors, including FTSE listed businesses such as Experian and BT and three years as the Financial Controller at Plusnet. He started his career at PwC, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 2008. The majority of his nine years at PwC was spent in its M&A Advisory practice, delivering complex financial due diligence projects to an array of different clients and sectors. His time at PwC also included two years in its Madrid office, working on pan-European and global deals.

Skills brought to the Board:

Financial management, Finance operations & M&A 

Sector experience:
Broad range including Tech, Telecoms and Professional services

Appointment date:
April 2019

Experience:
Paul has over 25 years' experience in developing video games and co-founded Sumo Digital in 2003. He started his career as a self-taught programmer and released his first game in 1991. Prior to founding Sumo Digital, Paul was Studio Head for Infogrames Sheffield and Head of Core Technology at Gremlin Interactive. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Sumo Group plc in April 2019. Prior to this he was Managing Director of Sumo Digital.

Skills brought to the Board:
Video games development, business leadership, client relationships and negotiations

Sector experience:
Extensive experience in the video games industry

Appointment date:

September 2022

Experience:

Tim joins Sumo as the group’s General Counsel and Company Secretary from Sheridans' celebrated video games team where he was a partner.  Having advised game developers and publishers all the way from indie to AAA there are few lawyers who have the level and breadth of experience in the video games sector that Tim has.  ​

Prior to joining Sumo, Tim also worked closely with the team on the set up of Secret Mode and has worked with various studios in the group including Auroch Digital and Red Kite in his previous role.​

Tim is a thought leader for legal issues in the games industry and, in particular, games publishing having spoken on the subject at GDC in 2021 and 2022.

External appointments:

Patron – Safe in Our World

Skills brought to the Board:

Legal and commercial expertise, LLB Law and LLM in Intellectual Property Law

Sector experience:

Tim’s legal and commercial expertise is recognized in the games industry, in particular in his advising on and negotiating publishing deals for independent game developers and publishers worldwide as well as on finance and regulatory matters pertaining to the games sector including video games tax credits and data privacy.

Eddie Chan is the Chief Strategy Officer of Tencent Games Global. He joined the company in 2017 as Vice President of international partnerships at Tencent Games after a variety of senior strategy roles over seven years at Activision. Eddie began his career as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley, later working at Turnstone Capital and spent four years at McKinsey. He sits on the boards of several studios Tencent has invested in. Eddie has an MBA from Columbia Business School and an undergraduate degree from the NYU Stern School of Business.

Michelle Liu joined Tencent in 2013 to lead its mobile game publishing business. She has overseen all of Tencent’s global gaming business since 2019, building and developing its global R&D and publishing capabilities. Michelle’s areas of expertise include mobile gaming, global business management and global studio partnerships. Under her leadership, Tencent Games has notched significant growth in its global games business and publishes or owns some of the sector’s most-valuable IP.

Yan Li currently serves as Associate General Counsel of Tencent Holdings Limited. He has a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from University of California, Los Angeles and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Chris Ning currently serves as Executive Director at Tencent Investment, focusing on Tencent’s overseas investments. In particular, he leads Tencent’s investment initiatives in gaming and software. Prior to Tencent, Chris was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. Before that, he was an engineer at Microsoft. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Pete Smith is Vice President of partnerships for Tencent Games Global. He joined Tencent in 2021 and manages relationships with studios including Sumo Digital. Pete joined Tencent after 16 years at PlayStation as director of product development working on LittleBigPlanet, Destruction AllStars and MotorStorm. Pete is a creative leader who has received hundreds of game pitches in his 25+ years in the industry.