As Variety expands its coverage of gaming, Jennifer Maas has been promoted to senior business writer, TV and video games. She will lead the entertainment news brand’s heightened coverage of the video game industry with special emphasis on the convergence of game content and IP with TV shows, movies, books and other media.
With the promotion, Maas will drive enterprise reporting, features and breaking news coverage of gaming and related subjects, in addition to her duties covering TV business news. Variety’s focus on the growing gaming sector, estimated to be a $184 billion market globally in 2023 per research firm Newzoo, is also enhanced by analysis and special reports produced by Variety VIP+, the subscription research service for the media business. VIP+ media analyst Kaare Eriksen has been writing analysis and special reports about the videogame industry for several years.
“Jennifer Maas has brought an energy and a focus to Variety’s business coverage from the day she signed on,” said Cynthia Littleton, Variety’s co-editor-in-chief. “She’s more than ready for this well-earned promotion. Gaming of all kinds has grown into a worldwide force and we’re eager to expand our coverage of this important market.”
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Maas stepped up Variety’s gaming coverage at the start of this year. Eriksen has contributed to Variety’s past gaming coverage and events such as the 2022 Variety Gaming and Entertainment Breakfast hosted by Pixel United.
Maas joined Variety in January 2022 as TV business writer based in New York. She has been a key contributor to Variety’s award-winning coverage of business and financial news related to media and entertainment giants as well as general TV news. She also contributes to the “Strictly Business” podcast and newsletter and leads fan-focused coverage of numerous TV series, notably “Stranger Things,” “9-1-1,” “The Boys” and “Bridgerton.”
Kaare Eriksen of Variety VIP+
Eriksen joined the VIP+ team in 2019, helping to launch the core product in 2020. He has led numerous monthly special reports covering the gaming and film spaces since then, on top of emphasizing and advocating for their intersection through VIP+’s output of daily, data-driven analysis. He also contributes to the weekly “Strictly Business” podcast and newsletter.
“Kaare brings considerable sophistication and wisdom to his analysis of the gaming industry, which has won the attention of its executives,” said Andrew Wallenstein, chief media analyst and president of Variety Intelligence Platform. “He’s won my respect by being so critical to driving the growth of VIP+ from its launch, and his gaming expertise is just one of those ways.”