Polygon’s hopes for Polygon Studios got a major boost this week as they added a former YouTube executive to lead its efforts.
Ryan Wyatt is leaving the video service after more than seven years to run Polygon Studios, where he will focus on growing its developer ecosystem across entertainment, gaming, fashion, news, and sports. He said he is fascinated by blockchain developments and is thrilled to enter the Web3 realm.
Wyatt said he enjoyed his time at YouTube but it is time for new challenges.
“I came to YouTube almost eight years ago to give gamers a voice and represent the gamer’s needs every day,” he said in a statement on his social media pages. “I am proud knowing that YouTube Gaming serves over 250 million logged in users every single day and drives hundreds of billions of gaming watch time every year.
His is but the latest in a series of executive departures at YouTube. Also going are Susanne Daniels, who was the first global head of YouTube Originals, a new content platform, has left, along with senior director of creator partnerships Jamie Byrne and VP and global head of product partnerships Heather Rivera. YouTube is also closing its original content studio. It had operated for six years.
The blockchain and NFT sector is attracting tech executives from other sectors. Earlier this month NFT marketplace OpenSea hired former Lyft executive Brian Roberts as its new chief financial officer, with some in the industry speculating it is in preparation for an initial public offering.
Polygon recently introduced the Polygon Governance Team, whose mission is to gradually increase the decentralization of Polygon’s products through the use of off-chain and on-chain governance networks.
“At Polygon, we firmly believe that decentralization is non-optional, but rather a hallmark of blockchain technology and one of the most prominent forces of innovation going forward,” Mateusz Rzeszowski said in a blog post dated Jan. 19. “It is for this reason that a Polygon Governance Team was recently formed. As part of the effort to expand governance communications, inform and engage our community, we’re now launching a State of Governance series. The series will cover everything from fundamental considerations and the value proposition of decentralization, to major updates concerning Polygon governance.”