How Neon River helps games companies to hire a Chief Product Officer
Chief Product Officer hiring in games is high-context. The role sits between studio reality, player outcomes, and commercial performance, often across a portfolio that includes premium launches, live service operations, and evolving monetisation models. The right Chief Product Officer creates alignment on what matters, then builds an operating rhythm that improves decisions across production, live operations, and go-to-market.
Great Chief Product Officers in games can balance craft and discipline. They understand product strategy, but they also run day-to-day prioritisation, define success measures teams can trust, and build collaboration with design, data, engineering, live operations, and publishing.
Neon River is an executive search firm specialising in leadership hiring for games and technology companies. Our searches are partner-led and research-driven. We map the market, engage passive candidates, and assess product leaders against the realities of games, including retention and engagement, economy design, content cadence, platform constraints, and the trade-offs between player value and commercial outcomes.
What we look for in a games Chief Product Officer
In games, a Chief Product Officer is often the person who turns player insight and studio capacity into a clear set of choices. The best candidates can set strategy, but they also run execution, including prioritisation, measurement, and cross-functional alignment.
We look for product leaders who can operate across business models and cadences, including premium launches, live service operations, and portfolio decision-making. The links below give a practical view of the kinds of product mandates we support and the standards we use when defining and assessing the role.
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Placed Dayan Yar as Chief Product Officer, reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, with responsibility for managing the company’s portfolio of games.Chief Product Officer placement
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Placed Jesper Gustavsson as Vice President of Product to lead the development and growth of Calmlings, a new game from Calm, reporting to the co-founders.Product leadership placement
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A practical view of defining the Chief Product Officer mandate, calibrating the profile, and running an executive search process that fits the realities of product leadership.Hiring guide
What matters in Chief Product Officer hiring for games companies
We help clients define the mandate in practical terms. What must be true in the first 6, 12, and 18 months, which trade-offs are acceptable, and what “good” looks like given your portfolio, studio structure, and business model.
Mandate and scope
Product strategy, live operations, analytics, monetisation, and how responsibilities split across studio and publishing leadership.
Operating cadence
A rhythm for prioritisation, roadmaps, outcomes, and reviews that improves decision-making without slowing teams.
Systems thinking
Progression, economy, content, events, and how systems interact across the player lifecycle.
Measurement that teams trust
Clear success measures, leading indicators, and shared definitions across product, data, design, and engineering.
Commercial judgment
Balancing player value with commercial outcomes across different models, including premium, live service, subscriptions, and licensing.
Cross-functional leadership
Strong collaboration with studio leadership, publishing, marketing, community, and customer support.
Common trigger points for a CPO hire
Most Chief Product Officer hires are triggered by change. This is the point where the company needs clearer prioritisation, stronger decision-making cadence, and a shared definition of success across studio and publishing teams.
- Premium launch to live service operations: shifting from milestone delivery to a live cadence across content, economy, and retention.
- Single title to portfolio leadership: investment choices, sequencing, and stop decisions across multiple titles.
- Studio-led to product-led operating model: ownership of prioritisation, measurement, and trade-offs across teams.
- Multi-studio integration after acquisitions: balancing autonomy and integration, removing duplicated tooling, data, and platform work.
- Monetisation and economy redesign: improving outcomes without damaging player trust, within platform and regulatory constraints.
- Publishing alignment and go-to-market discipline: clearer collaboration across product, marketing, community, and support.
How Neon River helps games companies hire a Chief Product Officer
Our searches are partner-led, research-driven, and designed for pace. We combine mapping, direct outreach, and context-based assessment so you meet product leaders who can run a clear operating cadence and improve decision-making across studio, publishing, and commercial teams.
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1
Define the mandate and success measures
Scope, decision rights, what must change, and how the Chief Product Officer will work with studio and publishing leadership.
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2
Research-led market mapping
Target list across games and adjacent contexts, including leaders with relevant portfolio, live operations, and systems experience.
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3
Calibrate the profile against your reality
We align on the operating cadence, product surface, and the balance between craft, data, and commercial outcomes.
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4
Assess with real scenarios
Roadmap trade-offs, portfolio choices, live operations outcomes, monetisation changes, and cross-functional conflict resolution.
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5
Close and de-risk
Offer shaping, structured referencing, and onboarding priorities so the Chief Product Officer lands with clarity and momentum.
Research and thinking on games product leadership, live operations, and scaling product organisations
Hire a Chief Product Officer for a games company
Partner-led executive search for games Chief Product Officers. We find product leaders who align studios and publishing, set operating cadence, and deliver outcomes.