Joe Ferencz is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Gamefam, the leading metaverse media company for Gen Z & Alpha communities. After two decades of working as a leading businessperson, artist, strategist, marketer, and producer, Ferencz foresaw the metaverse gaming segment’s growth and founded Gamefam in 2019 as the first-ever professional Roblox studio. He has led Gamefam’s growth to become the world’s largest and most successful metaverse media company – creating games, campaigns, amplification programs, and measurement solutions across Roblox, Fortnite, and other innovative platforms.

Ferencz leads corporate strategy and game development at Gamefam, driving the company to surpass 29 billion lifetime gameplay sessions across the portfolio and scaling to more than 160 employees. The company’s mission statement – “Creating Amazing Experiences for Amazing Communities” – applies not only to Gamefam’s games but to its company culture as well, and the world has noticed Gamefam’s passion for excellence. Under Ferencz’s leadership, Gamefam has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, LinkedIn’s Top 50 Startups in the US, and a certified Great Place to Work in the US.

In the years leading up to the founding of Gamefam, Ferencz worked in strategy roles at Mattel and Ubisoft after beginning his career as an art director working on licensed consumer products for sports properties, including the NFL, NCAA, and NHL. Ferencz’s game design and producing credits include App Store Editors' Choice winners He-Man: The Most Powerful Game in the Universe, Star Wars Rebels Recon Missions, and Hot Wheels Race Off, which has over 100 million downloads.

As the consulting Executive Producer for Hot Wheels video games, Ferencz helped elevate the brand to one of the top toy IPs in gaming today, executing 15 successful product launches between 2015 and 2019, including the Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels Expansion Pack (named the “#1 Xbox Exclusive of 2017” by Metacritic) and Hot Wheels Infinite Loop (nominated for “Best Mobile Game” and “Best Racing Game” at Gamescom 2019 and named a “Best of 2019 Games” by Apple).

Ferencz graduated with an MBA from the University of Michigan and earned bachelor's degrees in Advertising and English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. Based in Los Angeles, Ferencz enjoys hikes with his wife and their rescue dog, playing jazz piano, delving into indie video games, and sitting on the board of the education advocacy organization 826LA.

SXSW, Video Gaming, Gaming, Metaverse Modern Media, Business Growth, Startup, Business Leadership, Technology, Los Angeles, CA, Los Angeles, California, Corporate Strategy, Innovation, Fast Company,