SYBO Games Surfs Into New Licensing Deals, New Appointments

SYBO Games, the company behind Subway Surfers—the second most downloaded game of 2018—kicks off the new year with a host of announcements. New appointments include David Byrne, who joins the company as chief operating officer, and Naz Amarchi-Cuevas being promoted to chief commercial officer. The company has also signed more than 10 licensing agents to represent the brand’s consumer and lifestyle merchandising arm, SUBSURF, globally. Additionally, a surprise 11th episode of Subway Surfers: The Animated Series will hit YouTube this Friday.

As SYBO Games chief operating officer, Byrne will head up strategy and operations for the studio, including the strengthening of the Subway Surfers gaming roadmap, as well as placing teams for additional games, genres and intellectual properties. Byrne, a 25-year industry vet, previously held COO posts at NaturalMotion, Rovio, Playfish, and Electronic Arts UK.

David Byrne, SYBO Games

In her new role as chief commercial officer, Amarchi-Cuevas’ responsibilities now include franchise strategy and IP Development, brand marketing, consumer products licensing, and overall commercial strategy.

Naz Amarchi-Cuevas, SYBO Games

New licensing agents for SUBSURF include Retail Monster for United States; Retail Monster UK for the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland); BN Licensing for Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg; Premium Licensing for Italy; Mega Licensing for Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan; Dream Theatre for India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives; Lotus Global Marketing for Brazil; Lotus Global Marketing-ROLA for South America (Colombia, Caribbean Islands, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador); Sagoo for France; Animation International for Turkey; and NLC for the Nordic territories (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland).

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.