Infogrames scoops up former SCE Studios boss

By Ed Oswald | Published March 4, 2008, 3:26 PM

Confirming earlier reports, Sony Computer Entertainment's Phil Harrison has indeed taken a job with Infogrames, owners of the Atari brand.

Harrison stepped down from SCE at the end of last month. Industry insiders have speculated that his departure had a lot to do with Sony's failure to fully embrace social gaming, ceding control of the video game market to Microsoft and Nintendo.

At Sony, Harrison was involved in the launch teams for all of the PlayStation consoles, and had served in a number of roles over his tenure. He has held management positions in both the company's European and North American divisions, most recently as president of SCE Worldwide Studios.

With Infogrames, he will assume the role of president, and would roughly have the same duties as his former job. He will oversee software development and its students, as well as attract new blood to the company.

It would not be all that surprising if Harrison uses his long tenure with Sony and deep connections within the company to poach talent from the Japanese company. Harrison would also gain a seat on the board of directors for the French company as well, it said in a statement.

"This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari; one of the industry's legendary brands," Harrison said. "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."

The hiring of Harrison marks Infogrames' second big hire in as many months -- in February, it named former EA executive David Gardner as its CEO.