Industry vet Chris Donahue joins PlayFab as dev relations chief

PlayFab, the game services studio founded earlier this year by former PopCap business chief James Gwertzman, announced today that it has scooped up game industry executive Chris Donahue to serve as its director of developer relations. The company's decision to appoint Donahue head of developer relations is worth noting for game makers looking to patronize Playfab, which aims to provide developers with backend services like data storage, cross-platform player accounts and friend lists, leaderboards and custom game server hosting. Donahue got his start in the game industry 25 years ago as a producer for Sierra Online, and has since gone on to tackle leadership positions at a variety of game companies. His resume includes time spent serving as the head of developer relations for ATI Technologies and the Nvidia Corporation thereafter, as well as a stint at OnLive as director of publisher relations. In his new role, he's expected to make moves that will expose PlayFab's suite of services to more developers.