Advertisement

Former Atlus president now in charge at XSEED

Former Atlus president now in charge at XSEED

XSEED, publisher of games such as Unchained Blades and Orgarhythm, recently announced Shinichi Suzuki as its new President and CEO. Suzuki stepped down as CEO of Atlus North America in August.

"This is an exciting time for the industry and our company, and I look forward to navigating a course of success through the exciting changes in store as we advance XSEED's publishing efforts by bringing even more highly anticipated titles to market across multiple platforms," Suzuki said in a press release.

XSEED also announced that Ken Berry, founding member of the company, has been promoted to Executive Vice President.

Show full PR text

XSEED Games Appoints Shinichi Suzuki as President and CEO
Former Atlus USA Head to Lead Thriving Publisher Focused on Delivering High Quality, Unique Titles to the US Market


Torrance, Calif., (October 4th, 2012) – XSEED Games, an independent-minded publisher, announced today the hiring of Shinichi Suzuki, former President and CEO of Atlus USA, as the company's President and CEO. A respected and experienced executive with a wide-ranging and deep knowledge of the international video games products business, Mr. Suzuki will oversee all company operations while also holding the title of CFO. In related news, the company also announced that founding member Ken Berry had been promoted to Executive Vice President. In his current role, Mr. Berry manages publishing operations as the company enters the next phase of its development as an innovative North American publisher of global games.

"I have always respected XSEED Games, so this was an opportunity I could not pass up," said Suzuki. "This is an exciting time for the industry and our company, and I look forward to navigating a course of success through the exciting changes in store as we advance XSEED's publishing efforts by bringing even more highly anticipated titles to market across multiple platforms."

Mr. Suzuki led Atlus USA from 2004 to 2012, overseeing operation, management, sales, and strategy in his role as President and CEO. Under his tenure, he launched some of the company's most highly anticipated and successful games such as Trauma Center, Persona, Demon's Souls and Catherine. While supervising a company of 60 and its executive team, he published games for console and handheld platforms across Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft product lines. Previously, he was General Manager for the International Division at Japanese company Takara Co., Ltd., a major shareholder of Atlus Japan. In this position, he was responsible for the management and oversight of all division activities related to the sales of video games and toys for the international market outside Japan.

"Suzuki-san brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience that will no doubt benefit XSEED Games and our fans," said Berry. "I am looking forward to working with him to further build upon the legacy that we built eight years ago when we formed the company as we position ourselves for an even more exciting future."

A former business development manager at Square Enix USA, Ken Berry was one of XSEED's first employees. He has been with the company since before it was incorporated and has filled a variety of roles in addition to his business responsibilities. He threw himself into his role to bring titles to market, editing the entire script of the RPG Shadow Hearts: From the New World and acting as localization producer on other earlier titles such as Brave Story: New Traveler and Valhalla Knights, before establishing the company's localization department. In his role as EVP, he oversees all aspects of publishing for XSEED titles.

Since its formation, XSEED Games has released over 40 titles including the fan favorites The Last Story, the Ys series, Rune Factory: Frontier, Fragile Dreams and Retro Game Challenge, to name a few, and is working on a series of highly anticipated games scheduled for release this fall, including Ragnarok Odyssey and Orgarhythm.