Why Leanne Loombe Is A Fantastic Addition for Annapurna Interactive

Annapurna Interactive has announced Leanne Loombe will be their new Vice President of Games. She previously worked with Netflix Games until they began removing games from their library in 2024. She’s also a representative for Women in Game International (WIGI). So why did Annapurna Interactive choose Loombe over other gaming industry candidates?

The Drive & Love for Games

Stainless Games & Electronic Arts

Leanne Loombe has been an active video game lover for over 18 years. In her LinkedIn experiences, she has developed business strategies and communication skills. She began with English indie game developer, Stainless Games as a QA Tester and Production Assistant. Loombe quickly rose to QA Manager in charge of negotiating between developers and publishers.

She later learned to publish games with online game developer, TSUTAYA in 2007. For one year, she worked on effective communication and marketing. This helped Stainless Games to produce Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers and collaborate with EA for Risk Factions. Loombe soon work for EA during the development of Need for Speed. She became the cornerstone of the racing franchise as Lead Producer, then rose to Executive Producer. She deeply cared for the series’ UI, online multiplayer, and the game’s quality.

Riot Games

In October 2016, Leanne Loombe transferred to League of Legends studio, Riot Games. As the Head of Competitive, she and her team were in charge of creating a rewarding tourney system. That included Champion Mastery, Team Ranking, and Clash.

Two years later, Loombe was entrusted as the Head of Riot Games for the 2nd/3rd Party Development and Publishing. She gave League personality by adding story expansions with Ruined King and CON/VERGENCE. The game became more accessible as her team expanded to consoles. Loombe was very interactive with the League’s Esports community as well.

Connections with Netflix

During her time with Riot Games, Leanne Loombe was appointed as the Head of Netflix Game division in June 2021. These games were often choose-your-own adventures of popular shows airing on the streaming service. Surprisingly, there were plenty of 2nd and 3rd-party games from PC and Mobile. Here are a couple of recognizable titles:

Spiritfarer

Hades

TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge

Cats & Soup

Minecraft: Story Mode

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

Grand Theft Auto

Loombe even included Riot Games’ Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends to advertise the Hextech Mayhem shorts. According to her LinkedIn, she supervised over 200 games optimized to play on Netflix. Until November 2024, the streaming service announced it will be removing games from its library to make room for party and couch co-op games. An update was shared in December that 113 games discontinued their availability.

Leanne Loombe: The New Annapurna VP

Annapurna Interactive, Mictape — Screenshot from Mixtape, courtesy of Annapurna Interactive

Now with Loombe becoming the new Vice President of Games for Annapurna Interactive, her superiors are enthusiastic about the studio’s future. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Interactive and New Media President Hector Sanchez and Annapurna Pictures founder Megan Ellison shared their thoughts. “Leanne’s obvious passion for games and love for developers, paired with her experiences to bring players in worldwide, makes her the perfect fit,” told Ellison, “I’m excited to welcome her to the team as we continue to grow and push the boundaries of interactive gaming.”

Sanchez, who joined the company with Epic, can relate to Loombe’s devotion to the entertainment and gaming industry. He exclaimed, “Few leaders have breadth Leanne’s experience across the gaming industry. She understands what it takes to make a good game from the inside-out, which makes her a great partner for our developers.”

Loombe will assist Sanchez in overseeing in-house publishing and developing partnership and gaming strategies. Alongside Ellison, they will be collaborating in IP film and TV adaptations. Two years ago, Annapurna Pictures signed a deal to create a movie based on the popular cat survival simulator, Stray. Then in mid-2024, they announced developing adaptations for Control and Alan Wake.

Sema Chin

Sema Chin is a fiction writer, hobbyist artist, and gamer. Sema has been writing stories for almost her whole life creating wonderful stories from her inspiration of animation and video games. When she isn’t writing, Sema is either hiking, playing D&D, or listening to music. She’s a writer for Total Apex Entertainment and Gaming specializing in Indie Games, Retro, and Animation. You can check out more from Sema on her Instagram, @nomnomnomo for her author updates and art. Her military dystopian, Isle Lacion: Survivors of the Anima War is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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