Ryan Wyatt (born October 7, 1986) is an American gaming executive. He is the former global head of

gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playing ...

partnerships at

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

and head of gaming at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

, where he also led their

virtual Virtual may refer to: * Virtual (horse), a thoroughbred racehorse * Virtual channel, a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel (or range of frequencies) on which the signal travels * Virtual function, a programming ...

and

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory Modality (human–computer interaction), modalities, including visual, Hearing, auditory, hap ...

business. Wyatt now serves as the CEO of Polygon Studios.

Early life

Wyatt was born in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes ...

, and raised in the neighbouring town of Hudson, going on to attend

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

. As a child, he was diagnosed with

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension, ...

and received treatment at the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

Children's Hospital.

Career

Wyatt began his commentary career working for

Major League Gaming Major League Gaming Corp. (MLG) is a professional esports organization. MLG is headquartered in New York City, New York and was founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the ...

(MLG) in 2008, casting at events such as the 2009 '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' National Championship, as well as working as a referee and head of online tournaments for MLG's online eSports service GameBattles. In 2011, he joined

Machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words '' ...

as head of live and eSports, but returned to MLG in April 2014 to serve as vice president of programming. As part of the deal, Wyatt's personal live video and YouTube channels were aired exclusively on MLG's streaming service

MLG.tv Major League Gaming Corp. (MLG) is a professional esports organization. MLG is headquartered in New York City, New York and was founded in 2002 by Sundance DiGiovanni and Mike Sepso. MLG has held official video game tournaments throughout the ...

, as well as their YouTube channel. In October 2014, Wyatt left MLG again to become the global head of gaming partnerships at Google and head of gaming at YouTube. In May 2016, Wyatt collaborated with

OpTic Gaming OpTic Gaming is an American professional eSports, esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The organization currently operates a ''Call of Duty'' team in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas, they also operate a ''O ...

members Hector "H3CZ" Rodriguez, Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag, Seth "Scump" Abner, Will "BigTymeR" Johnson, Ashley "Midnite" Glassel and Ryan "OpTic J" Musselman in co-authoring the book ''OpTic Gaming: The Making of eSports Champions'', which details the players' individual ''Call of Duty'' eSports careers and their contributions to the team's success. The book became a ''New York Times'' best-seller, and film and television rights were acquired by producers John Sacchi and Matt Groesch.

Recognition

In January 2015, Wyatt was featured in the Games category for "Top Young Designers, Executives and Players" on the annual ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 list. In October 2018, Wyatt was recognized by ''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German pub ...

'' as one of the "Top Stars Leading Google's Entertainment Empire". In January 2020, Wyatt was nominated for a

Shorty Award The Shorty Awards (also known as “The Shortys”) honors the most innovative work globally in digital and social media by brands, agencies, nonprofits and creators. The Shortys’ mission is to celebrate, inspire and push the boundaries of exce ...

in the Gaming category. In September 2020, Wyatt was named t
Fortune's 40 under 40 list
In November 2020, Wyatt was named t
The Hollywood Reporter's 35 Under 35 List

Personal life

On September 4, 2017, Wyatt announced his engagement to girlfriend Kayla Gish. The two married on August 18, 2018.

Philanthropy

Wyatt is a board member of the

Gamers Outreach Foundation Gamers Outreach Foundation (stylized as Gamers Outreach) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides entertainment to hospitalized families through video games. The organization was started in 2007 in response to a canceled Halo tournament ...

, which provides recreation to children receiving treatment in hospitals with gaming technology, equipment and software. Wyatt cites his experience with Crohn's disease as one of his motivations for wanting to help others.

Books

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyatt, Ryan 1986 births Living people American television hosts Esports commentators Google employees People from Hudson, Ohio People from Canton, Ohio Ohio State University alumni