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Report: Square Enix CTO leaves company
Yoshihisa Hashimoto has left Square Enix, citing personal reasons for the departure, according to a Game Watch report that was confirmed by Polygon. Hashimoto worked as the company's Chief Technology Officer, most recently serving as technical director for Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, the manager of Square Enix's Advanced Technology Division and the head of development for the Luminous engine, which powered the Agni's Philosophy tech demo we saw at E3 2012. Hashimoto's departure continues a restructuring trend involving notable members of Square Enix. It reaches back to 2010, when Final Fantasy 13 composer and FF7/FF10 contributor Masashi Hamauzu bowed out to create his own studio. Long-time producer and designer Hiromichi Tanaka's departure followed in 2012, with Tanaka citing desire to work as a "single creator" on future projects. It continued in 2013, with Yoichi Wada stepping down from his role as CEO (and upgrading to Chairman of the Board). Square Enix America ex-CEO Mike Fischer left his role months later to join Amazon's Japan team, with former Eidos Montreal head Stephane D'Astous calling out a "lack of leadership, lack of courage and lack of communication" during his July departure. Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy 12 character designer Akihiko Yoshida also ducked out in December of that year. Former vice-president of marketing Karl Stewart left in April of this year, opting to join Petrol Advertising agency, which collaborated with Square Enix for Tomb Raider and is currently working with Activision for Destiny. [Image: Square Enix]
White House appoints Todd Park as new Chief Technology Officer
The White House hasn't wasted any time replacing the vacancy left by Aneesh Chopra, who recently stepped down as our nation's first appointed Chief Technology Officer. Following in his well-accomplished footsteps is Todd Park, a federal employee who's no stranger to the position at hand given his former role as CTO of the US Department of Health and Services. Park is credited with the launch of HealthCare.gov and is now tasked with "applying the newest technology and latest advances to make the Federal government work better for the American people." While we're sure those tasks don't include setting up Sasha and Malia's personal Pinterest accounts, he certainly has a long road ahead, dragging 'ol Pennsylvania Avenue kicking and screaming into our digital age.
Henry Tirri appointed CTO of Nokia, permanently replacing Rich Green
Not much of a surprise here, but today it finally becomes official: Henry Tirri has been appointed CTO of Nokia, nearly four months after assuming the position on a temporary basis. Tirri, who joined the company in 2004 and previously served as head of its research center, will permanently replace former CTO Rich Green, who took an indefinite leave of absence from Espoo back in June, citing "personal reasons." At the time, some local media outlets reported that Green's absence would be permanent, due to disagreements over CEO Stephen Elop's smartphone OS strategy. Reportedly a one-time Meego advocate, Green will now return to the US to "pursue new opportunities" and, as of today, is no longer a member of the Nokia Leadership Team. Tirri, meanwhile, will be responsible for designing "Nokia's technology agenda both now and in the future, and driving core innovation to enable business development opportunities." We'll have to wait and see where that path leads, but you can find more details about the appointment in the full press release, after the break.
CCP Games to present at Game Developers Conference 2009
CCP Games, the developer of EVE Online, has announced that they'll have a presence at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next month. The company's CMO, Ryan Scott Dancey (aka CCP RyanD), is slated to speak about how CCP uses social network engineering to reach out to more subscribers. Specifically, he'll describe how the company puts Tipping Point theory (about how information spreads) into action. That session is titled: "Network Marketing: Leveraging Social Networks to Grow an MMO".On the technology front, CCP's CTO Halldor Fannar will speak at GDC 2009 in a session geared more towards programmers and technical artists, "From Evolution to Revolution: Upgrading the Graphics Engine of EVE Online". Fannar will lay out the issues CCP has faced with upgrading EVE's graphics engine, and explain how their ideas went from being on paper to a shipping game. His presentation will show the tools in action that allowed them to "take the required generational leap in art production." Game Developers Conference 2009 runs from March 23-27 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, and as we've mentioned previously, will have a lot to offer MMO fans of all genres.
Mythic CTO to keynote at East Coast Games Summit
Mythic Entertainment's Chief Technology Officer Matt Shaw is slated to keynote the America's Video Game Expo (VGXPO) and its East Coast Games Summit. VGXPO will take place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, from November 21-23.In a session titled "MMOs, Everyone Wants to Do One!", Shaw will discuss the differences in developing single player games versus MMO titles, and the lessons learned along the way. Some highlights of the upcoming East Coast Games Summit at VGXPO include: "Pitch Your Game Idea": a session for entrepreneurs to pitch their game concepts to industry leaders. "Scrum Deconstructed": a hands-on workshop for game industry management and technologists. "Breaking In": a conference for students and others interested in making a career out of games. Speakers from companies like Acclaim Entertainment, Electronic Arts, BioWare, and Nexon will be at VGXPO as well. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
