Wargaming announces a pair of new hires, one of whom is Paul Barnett, former GM for EA Mythic whose name has appeared here quite often over the years. Here's the news:

Wargaming America, the exclusive North and South America publisher for Wargaming.net, today announced recent additions to the company’s executive team to further develop and strengthen their growing workforce and portfolio of products. Thaine Lyman was appointed head of global publishing production and Paul Barnett has joined the team as director of community.

“We are thrilled to welcome both Thaine and Paul on board during this exciting time of growth for the company,” says Wargaming America general manager Jay Cohen. “Their respective experience developing high-performance products and innovative, culture-driven teams will help support Wargaming’s efforts as we continue to expand our audience throughout the Americas on new platforms with community focused features and content.”

Leading the global publishing production team with over 17 years of experience, Lyman is responsible for the execution of the overall production strategy within Wargaming publishing, working with internal and external talent to further expand the company’s positioning within the video game industry. Most recently, he was the vice president of production at Activision, where he was responsible for the franchise development and long term strategy of global AAA computer and console software titles, including “Call of Duty” and “Destiny”.

As director of community, Barnett will focus on conceptualizing, developing and facilitating the implementation of creative projects related to Wargaming’s commitment to community relations. He joins Wargaming with more than 22 years of groundbreaking and innovative online gaming experience. Previously, Barnett was the executive producer of channel programming at Electronic Arts, where he launched an on-demand television gaming service. He also served in various executive management and creative positions at EA Mythic as general manager and creative director, leading highly-effective teams to launch multiple titles worldwide, including “Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning” and the “Ultima” series.