UK TV station Channel 4 has hired video games industry veteran Colin Macdonald as its first games commissioning editor, where he will be responsible for commissioning games that go hand-in-hand with the company's TV shows.
Channel 4 already has a program dedicated to supporting the video game industry. Its E4 subsidiary runs a browser games website, and has funded a number of indie titles such as Size Five Games' Privates.
Macdonald started his own games studio Fred Publishing in the early 1990s, and published a number of licenced titles from franchises such as Lemmings and Prince of Persia.
He then joined Grand Theft Auto developer DMA Design in 1997 as producer on the series, before founding Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds.
As Channel 4's games commissioning editor, Macdonald will be looking to find video game projects that have the potential for cross-over with the channel's TV programmes.
He said of the move, "I'm delighted to be joining the team and tremendously excited by the possibilities for gaming within Channel 4. I am very much looking forward to working with the UK's finest in games development talent to build on the great work that's been achieved so far."
