Officials from major European developer Blitz Games (Burger King adver-games) have announced that the company has hired Mary Matthews to a senior role for TruSim, the company's game-based training, visualization and learning division. Specifically, Matthews will assist in business and strategic development involved with Blitz's efforts within the serious games space. She will also work to support strategic thinking across all of the divisions within Blitz games, which is known for its family friendly games like Bratz, Spongebob Squarepants, and Karaoke Revolution presents: American Idol, as well as its recent trio of adver-gaming titles for fast food chain Burger King, featured recently on Gamasutra. Previously, Mary led regional strategy for public investment in digital creative industries, including the video game industry, and secured more than £15 million of public and private investment to implement a 3 year development program. She has also worked in the field of broadcast journalism where she reported for and presented news programs for BBC Radio and TV, Sky News, Channel Four News and LWT. She has also run her own media training company, was executive director for a Midlands PR company and supported early thinking on Media Literacy for the Independent Television Commission. "TruSim is investing heavily in developing a new market for engaging and effective training and visualisation solutions using the skills and technology of the video games industry,” commented TruSim head Richard Smithies. “Mary is a very talented individual and her knowledge and expertise will help greatly in growing this and other parts of our business.”