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Sony Vet Phil Harrison Joins Infogrames As President
by Christian Nutt
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March 4, 2008
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Infogrames has announced that Phil Harrison, former Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios boss, has joined the company as president, as part of a "transformational leadership team at Infogrames that will grow the Atari brand into a leading online game company."
Harrison, in addition to being named president, has joined the company's board of directors and been named directeur général délégué -- or deputy general manager. He will report directly to CEO David Gardner, an EA veteran who joined the company earlier this year.
According to the announcement, Harrison will work in a very similar capacity to the job he had at Sony: overseeing software development in both online and packaged games, overseeing the company's studios and attracting talent to the company.
Gardner echoed this in his statement, saying, "Drawing upon Infogrames’ strong financial foundation, Phil will have the means to attract new talent, develop studio and online capabilities, and drive forward our publishing activities. I want to work with people that understand fun for consumers and fun in the company culture."
Given that the company has shed many of its internal studios and canceled many projects over the past few years -- notably selling off franchises such as Stuntman and Driver franchises and their associated studios, it remains unclear precisely where Harrison's primary responsibilities will lie.
Sony announced Harrison's departure one week ago; this past Friday was his last day with the company he has been at since 1992 -- before the actual formation of Sony Computer Entertainment as a separate entity from the Sony conglomerate.
Harrison commented, "This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari -- one of the industry’s legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over."
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