Kane Forrester

Video Game Marketer

About Kane

Kane is a video game marketer, raised and educated in England with international experience in Games Engines, Free to Play, Triple-A, Live Services, Indie, PC, Console, Multiplatform Publishing and Virtual Reality.

At TwitchCon 2019 with the PHOGS!

My love for innovative technology and video games has led me to a career as a Video Game Marketer. Currently working as a Senior Marketing Manager for Epic Games, leading the marketing strategy and Partner Relations for PC Building Simulator 2 alongside First Party Platform Marketing for Fortnite.

As an expert in video games and digital marketing, I excel at planning marketing strategies, delivering engaging brand content, and shaping dialogue between brands and customers.

I have a proven track record of successfully working with developers and publishers on game launches and products across all mainstream Console, PC and VR platforms.

This has provided me with solid experience in varied projects encompassing a wide spectrum of the games industry including Games Engines, Free to Play, Triple-A, Indie, PC, Console, and Virtual Reality.

Key Skills

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Video Games Brand Management

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Lifecycle and Go To Market PLanning

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Budget Setting & Handling

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KPI Analytics & Reporting

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Video Games Publishing & Ratings

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Platform and Partner Relations

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Global Team Management & Collaboration

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Agency and outsourcing management

Career History

Senior Marketing Manager - Epic Games / Irregular Corporation

February 2021 – Present

Responsible to Marketing Director, First Party for:

Ownership and distribution of content, monetization and marketing beat roadmap for Fortnite
Liaising with internal and external stakeholders on approvals for Fortnite initiatives from platforms and partners
Agendas and taking lead in weekly meetings with Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and Epic Games Store
Participating in Fortnite Growth and Forecasting meetings
First Party major beat recaps for internal discussion and review by senior leadership
Secure, watermarked weekly GTM distribution to 1st party partners

Responsible to Franchise & Marketing Directors for:

Owning and executing global marketing campaigns and strategies that positively impact the bottom line for PC Building Simulator and future franchise titles
Managing global Partner Relations across 40+ hardware brands for PC Building simulator including the new parts pipeline for the game
Act as the principal point of contact for all marketing and brand activity for PC Building Simulator and future franchise titles, aligning expectations and negotiating with internal and external stakeholders
Sourcing, briefing and managing external contractors and agencies to deliver assets and requirements for successful marketing activities

The Irregular Corporation was acquired as part of the acquisition of Tonic Games Group in March 2021

Senior Marketing Manager - Coatsink

January 2018 – January 2021

Responsible to CEO, COO & SMT for:

Leading a marketing team of 6 at Coatsink and external contractors to develop and deliver synchronized, integrated and successful marketing campaigns and game launches for both internally developed and published products across all major games platforms.
Owning and executing global marketing strategies that positively impact the bottom line and help the company to hit its financial goals and execute its current growth plans.
Research, planning, budgeting, and project management of marketing, content, and go to market strategy for self-published products.
Fulfil partner relations duties and supporting external developers and publishers for products not directly published by Coatsink.
Act as the principal point of contact for all marketing and brand activity across the Coatsink publishing portfolio, aligning expectations and negotiating with internal and external stakeholders

Brand Manager - CCP Games

May 2017 – December 2017

Responsible to Senior Brand Director for:

Help define product positioning, messaging and the brand bible to arm the wider customer teams with the information, materials, and guidance they need
Management of external agencies and internal teams to deliver brand, marketing, and acquisitional assets on time and to a defined budget
Work with production teams, through game health meetings and analytics to prioritize new feature development in line with customer expectations to drive acquisition, engagement, and retention
Research and understand the customer journeys for my product(s) and weave this knowledge into the marketing mix and acquisition engine

Key Achievements

Briefed and guided the creation of brand assets for Steam, Sony America, Sony Europe and Oculus for the launch of EVE: Valkyrie – Warzone adhering to the strict and varying guidelines and requirements of each partner
Collaborated with website and growth teams to revamp and rebrand evevalkyrie.com into an effective acquisition funnel with a conversion average of 20%
Managed the vetting and coordination of influencers across multiple campaigns and activations in conjunction with Communications and PR teams
Improved relationship between production and community teams through conversation, expectation management and creation of process

Content Marketing Specialist - Crytek GmbH

Apr 2016 – Apr 2017

Responsible to Marketing Director for:

Conceptualising creating and delivering strategies and content for growth in owned media channels
Briefing and cross-coordinating Marketing, Live Operations and Creative Services teams to ensure all elements of content marketing are delivered on time and to the expected standard
Managing the configuration of hardware and software, and use of the in-house live broadcasting facilities
Producing weekly live broadcasts on Twitch and YouTube platforms
Curating, cultivating and promoting community-generated video content for Warface for greater earned media impact

Key Achievements

Delivered subscriber growth of over 120% and over 1,000,000 views in 9 months of working with the Warface YouTube channel
Delivered follower growth of over 120% and average peak viewership by over 225% in 4 months of working with the Warface Twitch channel
Designed, remodelled and configured live broadcasting facilities into a production-ready environment returning them to shared resource status within the company

Managing Director - KaneAtron Digital Marketing

Aug 2013 – Mar 2016

Responsibilities:

Designed and delivered Web Design, SEO and Digital Marketing projects for businesses in the UK & Europe
Analysed and merged complex metrics and analytics to make informed, key business decisions
Designed and delivered the company brand image. guidelines, positioning, personality and voice
Effectively communicate with clients and stakeholders by leveraging appropriate digital technologies such as video tutorials and annotated tutorials

Key Achievements

Delivered a global e-commerce solution that returned over £435,000 in revenue in its first 12 months of operation
Organizing, marketing and running regular events for the Federation of Small Businesses and Business for Breakfast organizations in Staffordshire
Delivering educational presentations to businesses and professionals for the Federation of Small Businesses, Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce, Business for Breakfast, Staffordshire University and Wolverhampton University

Community Representative - Crytek GmbH

Feb 2013 – Mar 2016

Responsible to CRYENGINE Brand Manager & Live Ops Producer for:

Organising and managing global volunteers across Warface & CRYENGINE communities
Liaising with Crytek Community & Engine teams across multiple time zones and offices
Presenting two weekly community Twitch streams for European & American communities
Engaging with and responding to community questions & concerns via forums and social media
Acting as an ambassador for CRYENGINE and Warface products

Key Achievements

Produced and featured in over 200 Twitch streams gaining over 6000 followers for each of Crytek’s live streaming channels
Negotiating with key Twitch personnel to secure transcoding without the need for a formal partnership
Improving volunteer retention and satisfaction levels within both CRYENGINE and Warface

I’ve worked with

I’ve worked on

Recommendations

Kane immediately proved himself to be a valuable member of a fast-paced and results-driven marketing team. He owned key elements of the go-to-market execution for a multiplatform, high-visibility game; identified and addressed critical gaps in planning; and built highly valuable cross-functional relationships within the organization that led to a direct return on investment.

Ryan Geddes

One of the most distinguishing factors of Kane’s work ethic is a combination of his motivation, and the enthusiasm he brings to each and every task.

No matter the request, Kane always handled it professionally and treated each task with a level of detail and focus that is rarely seen within the workspace.

Tom Ebsworth

What I can contribute

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Innovation & Creativity

Through research and creativity, I’m adept at generating original ideas and strategies to improve existing processes and pipelines to better match business needs and requirements

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Project Management

Drawing from my teaching and business experience, I can apply effective time and task management frameworks that enable efficient use of time and resources, delivering on time, every time

Critical Thinking

I enjoy exercising my critical thinking skills in all aspects of my role – analyzing best practices, data and information from multiple sources to derive fit-for-purpose strategies and solutions

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Foresight & Initiative

I always strive to understand the bigger picture, raising issues ahead of time and actively seeking to advise against scenarios that could negatively impact the bottom line

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Agency & Freelancer Management

I’m confident in assessing complex cross-discipline requirements and creating a 3 step strategy to guarantee business requirements and quality bars are met in the most cost-effective manner possible

Confident Communication

Having experience as a teacher and business owner along with completing two Games Design degrees – I’m confident in my ability to communicate clearly, concisely and confidently across disciplines and technical levels to market traditional and technical aspects of games products and services

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Partner Relations

With over 5 years of partner relations experience, I’m comfortable and effective at expectation setting, stakeholder manager and bridging the internal and external communications needed for fostering fruitful partnerships.

Strategy & Analysis

As an experienced video game marketer, I relish the challenge of breaking down complex business requirements into coherent, robust and data-driven strategies, that make effective use of available company resources and budget

Contact Me

I’m more than happy to be contacted via Twitter or LinkedIn