GGRAsia – Ainsworth’s top developer and strategist resigns

Ainsworth’s top developer and strategist resigns

Nov 26, 2015 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News

Australia-based casino slot machine maker Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd on Wednesday announced the resignation of Scott Clarebrough, the group’s general manager for strategy and development. The firm gave no information on the executive’s official departure day.

The company thanked Mr Clarebrough for providing leadership to a team of game designers and product development engineers. Ainsworth said it remains “well placed to deliver on an exciting pipeline of new products and opportunities”.

Ainsworth’s shares fell by as much as 14 percent on Wednesday after the announcement of Mr Clarebrough’s resignation. The company’s shares recovered in late trading and closed down nearly 11 percent at AUD2.35 (US$1.70) that day. On Thursday the shares closed flat.

Speaking to Fairfax Media, Ainsworth’s chief executive Danny Gladstone said the market had overreacted, noting Mr Clarebrough might take on an advisory role following his official departure.

In Wednesday’s filing, Ainsworth said it planned to broaden the management across its product development division “with a number of key game designers having recently been recruited”.

The plan to further strengthen Ainsworth’s U.S.-based creative team “will assist the company to build a sustainable, profitable and growing business in the large American markets,” it added.

“I have confidence that our game designers will produce exciting games for the gaming market world-wide,” said Ainsworth’s CEO in a statement.

Ainsworth last week said it was acquiring U.S.-based games manufacturer Nova Technologies LLC for a total consideration of US$38 million. In August, Ainsworth announced that profit for the 12 months ended June 30 increased by 14 percent year-on-year to AUD70.4 million.