Armor Games CEO John Cooney announces departure

John Cooney, CEO of publisher Armor Games, announced his leave from the studio "in the coming days." 

He published a statement on Twitter saying multiple factors played into his decision, including future aspirations and his overall health. He called it "a tremendous privilege to support such a caring, compassionate, talented publishing team and group of developers." 

Though he didn't indicate where he would be going next, Cooney said his first order of business would be to spend time with his family and take some rest. "I haven't taken more than a few consecutive weeks off from working on games since 2004," he admitted. 

Armor Games shakeup

Cooney first joined Armor in 2007 as its first ever employee, before departing in 2012. He returned in 2019 as Armor's vice-president, then took over CEO duties from original CEO/founder Daniel McNeely two years later. 

Outside of Armor, he was a developer of Flash games, and previously founded his own studio, JMTBO2 Studios. His resume includes the Achievement Unlocked trilogy, AngleBeat, and Elephant Quest. 

Cooney concluded his statement with thanks to Armor Games' past and present staff, saying the studio is "a truly special place I'll never forget."

Earlier this year, Armor released The Elephant Collection, a remastered bundle of some of Cooney's prior work. He spoke about its existence, and the benefits of game preservation overall, which you can read here.