John-Burns
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Trion tabs Namco Bandai for Defiance EU distribution
With the release of Defiance inching closer and closer, Trion is getting all its EGO-enhanced ducks in a row. As such, it has signed an agreement with Namco Bandai to distribute the open-world shooter in the European market. Namco Bandai will handle both online and retail distributions for all three gaming platforms -- PC, PS3, and XBox 360 -- in Europe, South Africa, Middle-East, Australia, and New Zealand. The game is due out in April. Trion Worlds Europe SVP John Burns stated, "We're delighted to be working with Namco Bandai, a great company with a proven track record in bringing big games successfully to the market thanks to their great distribution network and excellent relationship with both high-street and online retailers."
Former Atari VP moves to Trion Worlds
Trion Worlds has a new star quarterback for its European branch today, as former Atari general manager John Burns joined the team. Burns is now senior vice president and general manager of Trion's European branch. Trion's David Reid feels that Burns is a major catch for the company: "John joins Trion with almost two decades of gaming experience with him, and will be essential in our continued success throughout Europe. With the launch of RIFT earlier this year, we began laying the groundwork for a strong presence in Europe, which will grow as we bring premium, connected games to gamers around the world." Burns has a lengthy track record in the industry, boasting over 20 years of experience at various companies. Prior to Atari, John Burns worked at Electronic Arts, Bandai, Acclaim and Sega.
Nolan Bushnell and Tom Virden join Atari board; Harrison and Gardner depart
Apparently Atari founder Nolan Bushnell has ended his recent revisit with game development, as the publisher announced today the addition of Bushnell to its executive board alongside "online entrepreneur" Tom Virden. This is the second executive acquisition announcement that Atari has made in recent days, with John Burns, former European head of EA's online publishing, joining up just last week. The company has said it's focusing on moving towards an online-based business, and today's appointments will be overseeing that transition with the rest of the Audit Committee (a.k.a. the executive board). "I am very excited to be reacquainted with Atari at a time when it is poised to make interesting strides in key growth areas of the games industry," Bushnell said. "The company and its iconic brands have always been important to me, and I look forward to further guiding them at the board level." Meanwhile, Atari has also announced the resignations of David Gardner, former CEO and director at Infogrames, and Phil Harrison, former Atari president turned board member. Happy trails! Update: An Atari rep got back to us, confirming that Bushnell and Virden will be filling the positions left open by Harrison and Gardner.
Atari picks up former EA Online exec to lead European arm
In Atari's march towards an online-oriented business model, the company issued a press release yesterday announcing the acquisition of John Burns, former senior director of European online publishing at EA. Burns wil be in charge of European operations for Atari, reporting directly to president and CEO Jim Wilson. "John joins Atari at time when we are transitioning our business toward online while maintaining a focused retail business," Wilson says of the new hire, referencing both of the company's Cryptic-developed MMOs and the handful of upcoming console titles on the release calendar. Meanwhile, Burns has some unsurprisingly kind words for his new corporate overlords. "Atari has the key ingredients of a focused strategy, compelling intellectual property and consumer brand recognition to meet its global growth objectives." And between both of the aforementioned MMOs -- not to mention Atari's publishing deal with Turbine -- Burns has a full plate of properties to push in the EU. And of course there's always the issue of returning to financial solvency sometime this year -- something the company promised in its last revenue statement. Good luck with all that, John!
