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Two SCEE staff poached

Two of Sony's most influential European employees have headed off to pursue other opportunities: one to Microsoft, another to Codemasters.

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The games industry can at times seem to be nothing but an oversized game of musical chairs. In the past year, Phil Harrison has left Sony to go to struggling veteran publisher Atari, Peter Moore has left Microsoft to head up EA Sports, and David Gardner left Electronic Arts to become CEO of Infogrames. This trend continued today with the departure of two staff from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, although at a markedly more junior level.

UK development and publishing house Codemasters was the first to break cover today, with a release confirming the appointment of Hal Bame as its director of distributor territories. Bame moved from SCEE, where he had been its distributor markets sales and marketing manager for five years.

Shortly after that, Microsoft joined the party, announcing the capture of Daniel Maher as Xbox Live Editor for Europe. He will be responsible for all European editions of Inside Xbox, Xbox Live's daily news magazine, and will oversee the service's European expansion during 2008; it is currently only available in the UK, US, Canada, and Japan.

Before joining Microsoft, Maher was an award-winning content producer at SCEE. According to Robin Truchy, director of Xbox LIVE Europe, "Daniel's background makes him inimitably qualified for the exciting plan of rolling out Inside Xbox across Europe."

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thenephariouson

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fishnpeas1, LOL at the Dan Maher comment, lol

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fishnpeas1

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[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

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thenephariouson

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This wont change a thing so dont sweat it!

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thenephariouson

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This wont change a thing so dont sweat it! What next? a news bullitin the next time a Sony or MS staff member takes a leak perhaps?? I dont think its fair they relaese 'News' like this as it could be seen as unsettling, i own a 360 (not fanboy) and very much doubt Sony has anything to worry about.

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Pie_FOREVER

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OH GOD IT'S THE END OF SONY. Pfft, get over yourselves, that's not what it is at all. 1 or 2 people going to other companies for their OWN financial choice does not reflect the state of a company. They have families too, you know

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Bobby969

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WOW!!Someone left company A for company B. Thats never happened before?? Slow news day was it Gamespot??????

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Spartan1017

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sooooooooooooo...

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IceStorm-Br

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So important this .. now I can sleep again ... lol

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darkride66

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The title made me smile. The exec going over to MS, poached or assimilated? :) I hardly see how staffing changes are news at all. I know MS lost a pile of execs last year yet I don't remember that being news. The only reason I know is because I always see the stock recommendations in my line of work, and these reports usually mention execs moving around. I don't think it's uncommon for upwardly mobile execs to stick around in their positions for long periods of time, not like the old guys anyway. Just my two cents.

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spydersvenom7

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I'm jumping on the bandwagon here, the PS3 is not a sinking ship; however executives keep leaving Sony like it is, and this isn't good. The problem is now that the system has staying power, if there's no one qualified enough to lead it, it will crash and burn. I guess a few key Microsoft execs moved on, too, though, so it must just be a time of change (and large paychecks) for the top video game executives.

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planetpib

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@NinjaMunkey01 , yeah sony is currently beating microsoft in hardware sales, but M$ is pwning both N and sony BIG time in the games sold. Last time i saw M$ outselling the about 4-1 with N and sony combined.

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NinjaMunkey01

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console-deity how can it be a sinking ship> sales of the ps3 are up, beating the 360's weekly. I am sure that those people will do well at the other companies, hopefully they will be replaced by people just as good.

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Tripwolf

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Better opportunity clearly.

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al-masri

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This is important why?

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jusducks6

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Hey Console-deity PS3 it outselling the XBox in Europe. So there not leaving any sinking ship.

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davijoboy

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console-deity don't be an idiot fanboy please !!

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console-deity

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Like rats leaving a sinking ship.

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