R/GA London was named the agency partner for Florida-based Magic Leap, the much-hyped mixed-reality (MR) start-up.

Magic Leap had formally released its first product earlier this month, with its flagship Magic Leap One available for developers to purchase. In naming the IPG innovation agency as its partner, it looked to engage both devs and consumers on the benefits of the device and tech it uses. Upon launch, The New York Times was named one of the startup's first and only partner in the publisher space.

As part of this news, Magic Leap has hired EMEA chief creative James Temple as its first chief experience officer. Temple had helped launch the agency 12 years ago as a founding member, and among his top accomplishments in that time he helped introduce the world to Beats by Dre’s streaming service, Beats Music.

That work helped enable Temple to contribute to the evolution of the streaming service, including branding, product design and marketing that led to its ultimate incarnation as Apple Music. His new role allows him to take a similar role — but on the inside — while maintaining his partnership with R/GA as client lead.

R/GA’s Matt Lodder issued a statement on Temple’s departure. “From our very early work with Nokia and Nike,” he said, “to the success of Gold Lions for Beats by Dr. Dre, James has been there every step of the way, helping us to become one of the very few truly end-to-end agencies.

“It goes without saying we’re going to miss him. But we’re delighted for James that he’s taking up such an exciting role at Magic Leap, a new partner for R/GA, meaning our journey together continues. For R/GA in London and the EMEA region we will continue to deliver transformative work for our clients, the agency remains in great health and our world-class creative leadership team will continue to perform as normal. Myself and the whole team are looking forward to writing the next chapter in our history.”

A replacement to lead creative for R/GA’s EMEA region in Temple’s stead has not been named.