Watch the industry update
Our 24-second appointment update. English captions available in the player.
The appointment
Stillfront has appointed Marcus Jacobs as President and Group CEO, effective November 1, 2026. He succeeds Alexis Bonte, who remains in charge until the handover. The group announced the appointment on October 22.
The career behind the move
Jacobs brings more than 25 years in games. Before joining King in 2012, he was Director of Monetization at Electronic Arts. At King, he spent seven years in the Candy Crush franchise’s executive management team. He later served as Embark Studios’ Chief Commercial Officer from 2020 to 2022.
A familiar company
Jacobs also served on Stillfront’s board between 2022 and 2026. In the announcement, he highlighted its established games, player communities and teams as he outlined his ambition to grow the franchises.
The context he steps into
Stillfront’s strategy focuses on seven key franchises: Jawaker, Supremacy, BIG, BitLife, Empire, Albion and Board. Its Q3 2026 report recorded 8% organic growth across key franchises, while the group overall declined 1%. Those results cover the period before Jacobs takes over.
Our perspective
For the people building and supporting these games, the story continues beyond the leadership announcement. Jacobs brings experience with games that evolve over years. Our focus will be how that experience shows up in the support available to studio teams, the decisions around their games, and the communities playing them. Those are questions for our future coverage.
The next chapter
Congratulations, Marcus. We’re rooting for you and the teams shaping what comes next. Gaming Is Culture follows the people behind the moves, with original sources and context for everyone making and playing games.