At 58, the British veteran is finally ready to hand over to Jonny Watts, who has been promoted to CEO after 10 years as creative director, especially David Braben’s trusted partner for 24 years. This does not mean that the latter is out of the adventure of his life. He will continue to oversee Frontier until further notice in his new role as Chairman of the Board and Founder. As such, he will continue to be responsible for Frontier’s strategic direction and still be able to forge important relationships within the industry.
“Frontier is very important to me, and I’m excited to hand over my role as CEO to the incredibly talented Jonny Watts, who I know will do a fantastic job. He combines creative leadership and gaming vision to capitalize on the company’s excellent dynamics. I’m excited about my new role at Frontier, a change that allows me to focus on our long-term strategic opportunities.‘, commented the man who designed the Elite space simulation back in 1984, long before Frontier was founded in January 1994.
Frontier took orders from various publishers in 2014 (RollerCoaster Tycoon at Infogrames, Thrillville at Lucasarts, Kinectimals at Microsoft) and made a bold move in 2014 with the release of Elite Dangerous, his first Large indie project whose success will make Planet Coaster 2016, 2018 Jurassic World Evolution and 2019 Zoo Planet. The Cambridge studio subsequently experienced phenomenal growth, enabling it to support around 800 employees.
After releasing Jurassic World Evolution 2 last year, Frontier is about to step into a new field with the upcoming F1 Manager 2022, which launches on August 30. A Warhammer-era Sigmar strategy game is also in the works, due for release in 2023. Meanwhile, the Frontier Foundry brand launched in 2020 and released games from partner studios like FAR: Changing Tides and Deliver Us Mars.