María Sayans wins Mobile Legend award 2026
Ustwo Games CEO María Sayans is named Mobile Legend at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2026, honoring her career contributions to mobile gaming.
María Sayans, CEO of ustwo Games, has won the Mobile Legend award at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2026. The ceremony was hosted in Cologne during Gamescom week by PocketGamer.biz, in association with Samsung Gaming Hub.
The Mobile Legend award recognises an industry professional who has achieved considerable success and made an outstanding contribution to mobile games. Sayans received the honour for a career spanning major studios and significant leadership.
Career Path
Sayans began her career in management consulting. She then joined Electronic Arts, spending more than a decade there. At EA, she worked as a director of marketing across major franchises including Battlefield and BioWare titles.
Her journey continued at CCP Games, developer of EVE Online, where she served as chief customer officer. She took the top job at London-based ustwo Games in 2019.
The studio is best known for the Monument Valley series. These puzzle adventures, built around impossible architecture and optical illusions, demonstrated the artistic potential of mobile games.
Leadership at Ustwo
Under Sayans' leadership, ustwo Games expanded its portfolio with new titles and genres. The studio maintained a focus on creating what she described as "beautiful games."
Sayans helped establish ustwo as one of the first major game studios to become a standalone B Corporation. The company achieved this certification in August 2022. Its impact score was reported as more than double that of ordinary businesses.
Operational changes during her tenure included introducing financial transparency, profit-sharing, and employee ownership. The studio also reduced its carbon footprint and linked charitable giving to its games.
Industry Role
Beyond her work at ustwo, Sayans now serves as board chair of Ukie. This is the UK games trade body. In this role, she helps shape policy across the wider games industry.
Her career has recently expanded into PC and console games. However, her contribution to mobile remains the foundation for this award. The Mobile Games Awards aim to celebrate the creators and developers shaping the industry.
For a full overview of industry achievements, you can view the complete standings of winners from the 2026 ceremony. The event highlights the key figures driving mobile gaming forward.
