Interview with Joe Burridge, Head of Talent for Play Ventures
Joe Burridge is Head of Talent for Play Ventures, one of the most active and successful investors in games companies around the world. We sat down with Joe to get his perspective on how he built his career in the games industry, and recruiting for entrepreneurial games companies.
What kind of games do you like to play?
I’m mostly into fantasy action RPGs, platformers, TCG’s and shooters. Right now I’m playing Split Fiction, which just came out from EA and Hazelight Studios. They’re the same folks who made It Takes Two. They really double down on co-op gameplay, story, and narrative, and I got to know them when I was helping hire for the EA Partners team. The game’s doing great; it’s sitting at a 91 on Metacritic, which is wild.
I’ve also been diving into Baldur’s Gate 3 from Larian. One of our portfolio companies, Mod.io, is their official modding partner, which is cool to see. On the indie side, I’ve been loving Neva on PlayStation. And outside of video games, I run a D&D campaign as a Dungeon Master and recently got into Magic: The Gathering.
How did you come to work in the world of computer games?
I was working at Hudl, a sports video analytics startup based in Nebraska. I joined just after their Series B, when they were about 200 people, and in two and a half years we grew to 1,000.
I was always the guy setting up LAN parties and video game tournaments in the office, and one day my wife just said, “Why don’t you try working in games?” That idea stuck with me.
So I spent over a year networking to get into the industry. I reached out to talent folks at EA, Riot, Ubisoft, Xbox, and just stayed in touch every few months. Eventually, I got an opportunity at EA. I left my full-time job at Hudl for a short-term contract at EA, took a pay cut, bought a car for the commute… it was a bit of a leap. But I’ve never looked back. It was 100% the right call with hindsight.
What does Play Ventures do?
We’re an early-stage gaming VC, so we back seed-stage startups, usually before they’ve shipped anything. Some might have an early build or strong KPIs from testing, but often it’s just a brilliant team with a compelling vision.
We’ve invested in around 90 companies so far. About half are game studios, mostly mobile free-to-play, which makes sense given our founders’ backgrounds at King and Disney. The other half are in gaming tech—think backend infrastructure, dev tools, marketing platforms, esports, even Web3.
Lately we’ve also been backing mobile-first consumer apps, especially ones built by ex-game devs applying game design, LiveOps, and retention mechanics in new ways. It’s fun to see those crossovers work.
Are there many games-focused investors in Europe?
Yeah, there’s a solid crew: London Venture Partners, Makers Fund, Bitkraft, The Games Fund, Griffin Gaming, A16Z Games, to name a few. Even though some are headquartered in the U.S., they all invest globally.
Where Play stands out is that 50% of our portfolio is actually in Europe. That’s a much higher percentage than most other gaming VCs, so we’re really committed to the region.
You’re the Head of Talent at Play Ventures. What are your typical daily responsibilities?
It’s a mix of hands-on recruiting and more strategic support for founders. I help them hire key people, sure, but also coach them on everything from performance management to values, mission statements, compensation etc.
I spoke to about 20 other Heads of Talent at gaming VCs and realized everyone defines this role a bit differently, depending on their background. If you come from an executive search firm, you’re probably focused on pure hiring. My background is more in-house, so I lean into broader people ops and helping companies to grow effectively.
What I love about Play is how entrepreneurial it is. There are 14 of us, and the attitude is, “Define the job however you think brings the most value.” I’ve built a whole talent network from scratch—there’s now over 1,200 people in it—and started a podcast to keep building relationships in the industry. It’s a fun, self-directed role.
Beyond day-to-day recruitment, you’re also influencing the industry. That must be satisfying?
Yeah, 100%. At a company like EA, if I helped hire one more engineer for a team of 1,000, did I really move the needle? But at a startup, if I help place a founding CTO, that can completely change the trajectory of the business. They get better tech, a stronger product roadmap, maybe even raise their next round based off that successful hire.
Last year alone we hired CTOs, CMOs, COOs, and CCOs into our portfolio. Founders are under so much pressure, and it feels amazing to help them out.
I used to obsess over metrics like time to hire, offer acceptance rate, all that. But at Play, it’s more qualitative. If a founder says, “We have a great relationship with Play because of Joe,” then I know I’m doing my job. And honestly, some companies will take years before they launch anything. If I only focused on short-term KPIs, I might actually be doing more harm than good.
Recruiting for startups is hard. How do you get people excited about leaving safe, big companies for more entrepreneurial ventures?
The first thing I look for is mindset. There’s a big difference between “I want to leave this job” and “I want to work at a startup.”
Even if someone’s been in big companies their whole career, I’ll look for signs. Did they lead an internal R&D project? Build something small and scrappy? That’s a green flag. Or maybe they’ve worked at startups before or even founded something. That makes it way easier to sell the dream.
When I talk to candidates, I also explain that these companies have funding. I share the thesis behind why we invested—it’s a good credibility builder. And I try to be honest about risk. You might get equity. You’ll definitely learn a lot. And in this market? Big studios aren’t necessarily safer. Layoffs happen everywhere.
What’s the attitude to remote work in your portfolio?
It really depends on the studio. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer.
If you’re building something from zero and trying to create tight team chemistry, then being in the same place is just easier. Face-to-face trust-building is hard to beat. But at the same time, small startups are competing for talent, and being flexible on location can really help.
When I advise founders, I just make sure they know the trade-offs. If you’re location-specific, it’ll take longer to hire. If you’re remote-first, you need great communicators, self-starters, and you should absolutely budget for in-person meetups a few times a year.
Play Ventures itself is remote. Half our team is in Singapore, half scattered around the world. I’m remote too, and I love it. But we make the model work intentionally.
It’s been a rough couple of years for games talent. Any advice for folks trying to break into or stay in the industry?
I think it’s okay to step outside the games industry for a bit. I tell people all the time: go build adjacent skills, and come back when the market’s better.
Game engines like Unreal are used across so many sectors—VFX, architecture, automotive, even medicine. There’s no shame in building your career elsewhere and bringing that value back to the games industry later.
And for folks new to games, it’s worth remembering that game studios are just one part of the games industry. There are publishers, marketing firms, tech platforms, tools companies, esports orgs—the list goes on. The more you explore, the more doors open.
Joe Burridge has built a strong reputation as one of the most influential talent leaders in the games industry, and is also host of The Talent Game podcast
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