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Iron Galaxy co-CEO Adam Boyes departs company after 8 years

Boyes exiting the Killer Instinct and Rumbleverse studio leaves Chelsea Blasko as the company's sole CEO.

Ozzie Mejia

August 15, 2024 4:32 PM

Iron Galaxy

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Thursday ended with some stunning news coming out of Chicago-based game developer Iron Galaxy. The studio behind games like Killer Instinct, Rumbleverse, Divekick, and a handful of solid Nintendo Switch ports is losing one of its CEOs. Adam Boyes announced that he would be leaving the company at the end of 2024 and will be headed to a mysterious new endeavor.

Boyes posted the following on the Iron Galaxy website:

Eight years ago, I started a professional journey with my old friends at Iron Galaxy. At the end of this year, I’ll be embarking on my next adventure. Throughout my career, sooner or later, I always find myself yearning to try something new or tackle new challenges. The fact that I’ve remained in my seat at Iron Galaxy for twice as long as anywhere else I have ever worked is a testament to the special culture that defines this place and the outstanding people who work here.

We’ve done some truly amazing things together these past eight years. I’ll never forget seeing the Rumbleverse community come together in a place that we built from the ground up (We hardly knew you!). During my time at Iron Galaxy, we’ve had a chance to work with the finest creators on the best damn games that money can buy. It’s been a privilege to help our partners fortify their worlds. Thank you for welcoming us into your creative process and trusting us to serve your communities right alongside you.

All of that will continue at Iron Galaxy. I’m only one member of this team, and they’re still here to keep doing amazing things. I want to offer my sincerest thanks to the people who welcomed me to lead this company with them. Dave Lang, thank you for trusting me to push the boundaries of what Iron Galaxy could accomplish. Chelsea Blasko, thank you for teaching me so much about building a strong culture – Iron Galaxy is in the best possible hands with you as their sole CEO.

This transition won’t happen all at once. I’ll remain on as a member of this team until the end of the year. As for what’s next? I’ll talk about that later. The most I can say right now is that an industry that I love is suffering. My new inspirations are to find ways to help people who make games solve their biggest problems. But that is a story for another time...

Iron Galaxy is the best place I have ever worked. It feels strange to say that in the same breath I’m using to say that I’m leaving, but we all need to follow our hearts. Creating video games is a passionate endeavor for passionate people, and our industry needs help more than ever before. You haven’t heard the last from me, and neither has IG.

Boyes' statement is open to all sorts of interpretation, specifically the part about solving problems for game developers and the concluding note that Iron Galaxy may deal with him again in some capacity. For now, Boyes will serve out the remainder of the year before handing the reins off to Chelsea Blasko, who will now serve as the company's sole CEO alongside founder Dave Lang. Boyes and Blasko served as Co-CEOs since November 2020 when the team also brought in David 'DeeJ' Dague from Bungie. Shacknews spoke with Boyes, Blasko, and Dague back when that leadership shakeup was announced with the whole interview available via the embed below.

Boyes first joined Iron Galaxy in 2016 after spending four years as Vice President of Third Party Relations at PlayStation. His previous titles include Executive Producer at Midway Games and Director of Production at Capcom. He arrived at Iron Galaxy as the team was winding down content for Killer Instinct. He helped oversee subsequent Iron Galaxy projects, including Rumbleverse, which launched in late 2022 and was sadly taken offline less than six months later.

We'll keep an eye out for Boyes' next destintaion, as well as the next project from Iron Galaxy. Keep it here on Shacknews for further updates.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?