About Me
I’m Javier Barnes, a mobile games specialist with over 15 years of experience in the games industry across game leadership, product management, game design, development, LiveOps and monetization.
Currently, I am Product Director at King (Xbox / Activision Blizzard), leading the LiveOps and metagame product area for Candy Crush Saga.
In addition to my work at King:
- In 2020 I founded and currently manage Pixel Noire Games, an indie studio that develops games with cosmic horror themes for PC and console.
- In 2025 I founded and currently contribute to Chainsaw, an AI think-tank that evaluates tools and best practices for AI-assisted development of apps and games.
I am also a frequent speaker, author and contributor at leading game development media such as Deconstructor of Fun, Google Gaming Lab, Game Developer, Pocket Gamer, ironSource Level Up and Elite Game Developers, among others.
Among my portfolio you can find titles such as:
- Candy Crush Saga (from King, where I’ve worked as Lead Game Designer and, currently, as Senior Product Manager)
- Monster Legends (from Social Point, as Lead Game Designer)
- Despicable Me: Minion Rush (from Gameloft Barcelona, as Game Economy Designer)
- Asphalt 8: Airborne (from Gameloft Barcelona, as Game Economy Designer)
- Asphalt Xtreme (from Gameloft Madrid, as Game Economy Designer)
- And several other mobile titles: Iron Man 3: The Official Game, PLAYMOBIL Pirates, Six-Guns, Rival Knights…
Beyond games, in 2015 I co-founded and served as General Manager of RIOT Wrestling, one of the biggest pro wrestling promotions in Spain, which runs sport-themed events across the country for crowds of over 1,000, alongside more than 100 talented workers and associates — including talent now competing in WWE. (As of 2019, I no longer manage RIOT Wrestling.)