# Ben Liu

> Ben Liu is the CEO of Pocket Gems, a San Francisco-based mobile entertainment company backed by Tencent and Sequoia Capital. After joining as COO in 2011 and becoming CEO in 2012, he has led the company's flagship titles — the interactive storytelling platform Episode (with 25 million+ registered creators) and the real-time 3D strategy game War Dragons — while overseeing $155 million in total fundraising, mostly from Tencent. A Stanford double-degree and MBA graduate, Liu brings a rare hybrid background spanning investment banking, Disney strategy, EA mobile product management, and social gaming before betting on the mobile-first future of entertainment.

- **Role:** CEO at Pocket Gems
- **Organizations:** Pocket Gems, Electronic Arts, Playdom, Pandemic Studios/BioWare, Disney, CS First Boston
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. Electrical Engineering / B.A. Economics, Stanford University, MBA (Arjay Miller Scholar), Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Grew Pocket Gems from 10 employees to 200+, Overseen 500 million+ game downloads across Pocket Gems portfolio, Led Episode to 25 million+ registered creators worldwide

## Career timeline

- **2001-2003** — Investment Banking Analyst, Technology Investment Banking at CS First Boston
- **2003-2005** — Senior Analyst, Corporate Strategic Planning at Disney
- **2005-2007** — MBA at Stanford GSB (Arjay Miller Scholar)
- **2006-2009** — Producer at Pandemic Studios/BioWare, worked on 'Destroy All Humans!' and multiplayer titles
- **2009-2010** — Lead Product Manager for iPhone Games at Electronic Arts - first iPhone PM at EA
- **2010-2011** — Executive Producer and Studio GM at Playdom (acquired by Disney), led City of Wonder
- **2011** — Joined Pocket Gems as Chief Operating Officer
- **2012** — Became CEO of Pocket Gems
- **2015** — Closed $60M investment from Tencent
- **2017** — Closed additional $90M from Tencent (total $155M raised)
- **2021** — Hosted War Dragons Player Summit; Episode reaches 25M+ registered creators

## Achievements

- Grew Pocket Gems from 10 employees to 200+
- Overseen 500 million+ game downloads across Pocket Gems portfolio
- Led Episode to 25 million+ registered creators worldwide
- War Dragons generated nearly 2 billion battles fought in 2016 alone
- Raised total $155 million in funding, including two rounds from Tencent ($60M in 2015, $90M in 2017)
- Named Arjay Miller Scholar at Stanford GSB (top 10% of graduating MBA class)
- First iPhone Product Manager at Electronic Arts
- Built City of Wonder at Playdom, one of the most successful social games of its era

## Latest updates

- **2021-12** — Hosted first War Dragons Player Summit, bringing top players together; Episode community surpasses 25 million registered creators
- **2017-05** — Pocket Gems raised $90 million additional investment from Tencent, totaling $155M raised
- **2015** — Secured $60 million investment from Tencent to accelerate War Dragons and Episode development

## Links

- Website: https://pocketgems.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/benliuprofile
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PocketGems
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/pocketgems

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ben-liu
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-17