Industry veteran launches indie-focused talent agency Rocket Game Talent

Former PlayStation and Xbox talent leader Fiona Cherback has launched Rocket Game Talent, a boutique agency providing AAA hiring expertise and strategies for indie studios.

Rocket Game Talent provides talent acquisition services to studios of all sizes, but with a particular focus on small studios, startups, and indie teams that lack brand recognition, an established recruiting process, or competitive compensation.

The agency aims to provide talent operations infrastructure, full-cycle recruiting, and employer branding and engagement programs. The latter includes university and bootcamp partnerships, diversity recruiting initiatives, and industry event representation.

“Most game talent specialists specialise in either AAA or indie. I’ve carefully mastered both,” said Cherbak.

“I understand why your 50-person studio can’t hire like Xbox does – and I know how to position you to win top talent anyway. I understand both $200M blockbusters and bootstrapped startups – and that range is your advantage.”

Cherbak was talent acquisition lead at Sony PlayStation Worldwide Studios, hiring over 250 developers at Santa Monica Studio for God of War, alongside staffing and shipping Bioshock: Infinite for Irrational Games.

At Xbox Game Studios, she was lead talent program manager overseeing operations for 14 first-party teams across franchises such as Gears of War, Halo, and Forza.

Cherback also co-founded Women in Games International and served as the former chair of the IGDA Women in Games SIG.