Home Gaming Former Sony games boss Phil Harrison’s joined Microsoft

Former Sony games boss Phil Harrison’s joined Microsoft

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Moby next time I'll use a picture of Phil Harrison

Traitor! Former head of Sony’s Worldwide Studios and PlayStation front man Phil Harrison has joined Microsoft Europe, with a focus on growing the Xbox business there.

This announcement comes after Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux had stepped down as the creative director of Microsoft Studios Europe. Phil won’t be replacing him.

“Phil will lead Microsoft Studios European organization, but will also influence the broader performance of IEB’s European business,” says a Microsoft spokesperson. “We will continue to rely on our stable of first party developers as we determine if and when the Microsoft Studios Europe creative director vacancy should be filled”

I’ve always liked Phil – even though he was part of the Sony brigade that tried to push a $599 PS3 at launch. though he left Sony four years ago, as the head of Worldwide Studios he was pivotal in securing many of the Playstation exclusives that grace the system today; without Harrison there might not be big games like LittleBigPlanet, Heavy Rain, Uncharted, Resistance and Infamous available exclusively on Sony platforms, and his ability to drive new ideas might be pretty beneficial to Microsoft, who’re admittedly lagging behind with regards to great first party content. always great on stage at Sony conferences, he might also bring a bit of flair to Microsoft’s press briefings – which have become a little dull under Don Mattrick’s hand. Actually, since his departure there’ve been very few PS3 exclusive games that aren’t part of established series announced.

“I am excited to be joining the senior team at Microsoft at a pivotal time for our industry,” said Harrison. “I am really impressed with the company’s long-term vision for growing the market for interactive entertainment globally and also with the incredible wealth of talent, technology and resources the company has available to succeed.”

In his time away from Sony, Harrison’s been an executive at atari, and also with David Perry’s cloud-based Gaikai. So then…when can we expect a Microsoft hardware demo with cloud-based rubber ducks?

Last Updated: March 14, 2012

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