Nick Brien joins Enthusiast Gaming as CEO

Longtime media executive Nick Brien has been appointed CEO of entertainment company Enthusiast Gaming, it announced on Wednesday.

Brien enters the role with decades of experience leading marketing and media companies. He was most recently CEO of ad tech firm Amobee, and prior to that he led Dentsu Americas, iCrossing, McCann Worldgroup, IPG Mediabrands, Universal McCann and Arc Worldwide.

At Enthusiast Gaming, he will help the Canada-based media company connect brands with young Millennial and Gen Z audiences across its portfolio of properties, which include popular YouTube channels Wisecrack and BCC Gaming, as well as through metaverse experiences, social channels, in-person events and esports activations.

Brien will be based in Los Angeles and will lead a team of 300 full-time employees that can scale up to 500 with global contractors.

Brien takes on the CEO role as Adrian Montgomery moves to chair Enthusiast Gaming’s board of directors as part of a reorganization announced in August. Just one month prior, Tremor International announced a $239 million acquisition of Amobee.

In January, media measurement company Comscore listed Enthusiast Gaming as having the most unique visitors of all gaming properties in the U.S., above Roblox’s website and Twitch.

But brands aren’t yet aware of the reach they can get through the company, Brien said.

“I’m not convinced that’s as well known as it needs to be,” he said. “We need to continue [getting awareness] with those brands seeking to leverage the scale and very high quality engaged audiences we have. I want to make sure that the brands that are leaning in are not just those who already have a gaming strategy in mind.”

Enthusiast Gaming has partnered with brands including E.l.f., Netflix, the NFL, the Biden-Harris campaign and Lego on previous campaigns.

“We’re bringing brands into particular sites and games and platforms that we have and engaging them with those communities in a co-creative way,” Brien said.

Coming from a media landscape, gaming provides an opportunity to be more involved with a part of the ad industry that “has scale, diversity and communities who co-create with one another,” he added. 

He also said that, relative to traditional media, gaming allows for innovative uses of first-party data to track the quality of brand experiences as the use of cookies phases out.