Ivan Van Normam was Head of Publishing at Critical Role for five years. He was involved in the creative oversight of the Darrington Press brand, represented Darrington Press at conventions, in interviews, and during product announcements, and helped develop the community.
Ivan is also the founder of Hunters Entertainment, and he’ll be going back there now that he’s left Critical Role’s tabletop games arm.
He announced on LinkedIn, where his profile now says he’s open to new work. Ivan wrote:
As people have been reaching out, I wanted to let everyone know that I am no longer working at Critical Role.
I couldn’t be happier to have worked with such an excellent group of people, who have worked so hard and passionately to create great things. While I am proud of everything the Darrington team has accomplished over the last four years, I am excited to move on to new opportunities.
In the meantime, I will be using this time to focus on the company I started 15 years ago, Hunters Entertainment, as well as pursue a few passion projects that I now have time to put effort into.
I have always enjoyed new ventures, and Darrington was the largest one by far. There is no greater joy than bringing talented folks together and making games worth participating in.
I wish everyone at Critical Role and Darrington Press team all the luck with Daggerheart. It is an amazing game, and everyone who worked on it should be proud of what they’ve accomplished.
Onto the next adventure!
It seems unlikely, although it is possible that the timing is a coincidence. Earlier this week, Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford, ex-WotC, D&D superstars, joined Darrington Press.
Ivan, though, describes himself as a marketer, and I doubt either Chris or Jeremy would adopt that job title. I thought the clash might arise with Darrington’s TTRPG creative team and with individuals like Spenser Starke, but perhaps someone felt there were too many cooks in the senior kitchen.
Ivan isn’t the only high-profile TTRPG marketer on the move. Also, this week, Jess Lanzillo quit Wizards of the Coast.
