Chris Early moved from MS Casual Games to G4W Live
Microsoft just announced that Chris Early, studio manager for Microsoft Casual Games – they're the group that does that whole Xbox Live Arcade and MSN Games thing – is being moved to a new, arguably more challenging position, inside the Redmond behemoth: General Manager of Games for Windows Live. Like an awkward teenager, the nascent online service is still struggling to identify itself while everyone else waits; meanwhile, its sibling Xbox Live service enjoys widespread acclaim and a strong brand identity.
But Early's no online gaming rookie, he previously served time with Gamespy and MPlayer.com before moving to Microsoft. While this move – effective July 9th just after the beginning of Microsoft's latest fiscal year which began on the 1st – should bring some much needed clarity to the G4W Live product, we're nervous the now (more or less) smoothly operating XBLA service may suffer yet another executive setback.
