The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Foundation has hired Alyssa Walles as its new executive director.

Walles has worked in the games industry since 1995, when she started out as a director for sales planning at PlayStation Europe. Since then she has worked two stints at Atari, first between 2000 and 2002 as a senior vice president, then again from 2013 to 2022 as the chair of the company's compensation committee. Walles' longest role was president of Amplitude Consulting, where she worked with brands such as Toys R Us, Fisher Price and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

“It is an honor and a privilege to serve as the IGDA Foundation’s executive director,” Walles said.

“I look forward to putting my energy towards serving our industry through expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout game development and publishing.”

IGDA Foundation chair Christina Alejandre added: “We are extremely excited to welcome Alyssa as the permanent executive director of the IGDA-F and are looking forward to working with her to evolve and grow the foundation. We would also like to thank Sarah Spiers for serving as our Interim Executive Director and are pleased that she will continue on with the foundation as its Director of Global Development.”