Adelaide-based video games developer Mighty Kingdom (ASX: MKL) has appointed its director of production Dylan Miklashek as interim CEO in a stop-gap measure replacing David Yin, who stepped down from the company in November after just nine months in the role.
The board restructure has also led to David Butorac stepping down as non-executive chairman, to be replaced by Duncan Gordon.
Miklashek, who works remotely out of Brisbane, is founder of Loco Games Services and has 25 years’ experience in the video games sector working for the likes of Gameloft, EA, Pandemic and THQ.
His appointment to lead Mighty Kingdom follows a tumultuous period for the company which has seen a succession of CEO appointments since January 2023 when founder Phil Mayes announced he would step down.
Mighty Kingdom, which had retained losses of $40.87 million at the end of FY24, posted a bottom-line loss of $6.99 million last financial year following an $8.8 million loss a year earlier.
The company, which has been cutting costs including jobs to reduce its cash burn, suffered a 26 per cent fall in revenue to $5.1 million in FY24.
In April last year, the company's former CEO Shane Yeend, whose business Gamestar became involved with Mighty Kingdom two years earlier, was canvassing for interest in a class action against the company for allegedly "burning what must be today close to $40 million with nothing to show for it".
Last month, Mighty Kingdom announced it had secured a $1.2 million debt facility from sophisticated investors in a move that it described as “critical” to the company’s continued financial viability.
While the converting loan facility carries an interest rate of 20 per cent, the principal and interest are repayable via Mighty Kingdom shares.
The company’s shares were suspended on 6 November pending the announcement of a “proposed material acquisition” after a trading halt two days earlier ahead of the capital raising initiative.
Yin, a former Google Play executive, resigned just two weeks after this announcement which left a leadership void for the company. Shortly afterwards, on 9 December, Mighty Kingdom revealed that the proposed undisclosed acquisition was not proceeding.
Despite the challenges, Mighty Kingdom’s former chairman David Butorac had earlier told shareholders at the AGM that the company would continue optimising operations by cutting costs while also exploring “strategic acquisitions and mergers to accelerate growth”.
New chairman Duncan Gordon today notes that Mighty Kingdom will continue pursuing this strategy despite the challenges ahead.
“Mighty Kingdom faces a rebuilding process after what has been a difficult period, with market-based factors as well as a less than satisfactory approach towards capital management and strategic imperatives,” says Gordon.
“Working with the rest of the board and the revised management team, we are committed to delivering fresh opportunities to the company whilst ensuring the current studio operations are run as efficiently as possible.
“Nothing is off the table in terms of those opportunities if they can add value for shareholders.”
Gordon has forgone a director’s fee as chairman of Mighty Kingdom as he is a related party of Cerberus Advisory, a firm that provides corporate advisory services to the company.
As interim CEO, Miklashek will receive a salary package comprising $150,000 per annum plus superannuation and $40,000 worth of Mighty Kingdom shares, subject to shareholder approval.
Miklashek, who is also a board member of Screen Queensland, has held several roles at Mighty Kingdom including director of development, executive producer, creative director and studio general manager, while leading teams on major franchises such as FIFA, NHL, MVP Baseball, WWE, Batman and The Oregon Trail.
In 2014, Miklashek launched Gameloft Brisbane as studio general manager and managing director and more recently has been directly involved in lobbying the Queensland and federal governments for a combined 45 per cent in tax rebates for Australian video game development.
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