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NVIDIA loses mobile division lead Mike Rayfield
NVIDIA's road into mobile may have just taken an unwanted (if temporary) detour. The company confirmed at week's end that its Mobile Business Unit's General Manager Mike Rayfield quietly left the company on August 24th to join another firm, although we don't know whether he's headed to a rival or in another direction altogether. NVIDIA also hasn't yet said who replaces Rayfield at the helm. No matter who takes his place, the departure is a significant blow to the crew in Santa Clara: the executive had been heading mobile development at NVIDIA since 2005, before anyone really knew the company was interested in the handheld space, and helped make the Tegra name synonymous with fast Android phones and tablets like the One X and Nexus 7. There's little doubt that more than a few competitors would like to have him onboard.
Insiders claim Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer has left Apple
It's not uncommon for executives of smaller companies to jump ship within a few years of the business selling to a larger firm, whether it's out of entrepreneurial restlessness or unhappiness with the corporate status quo. We don't know which of the two (if any) is a factor with Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer, but tipsters for AllThingsD and Bloomberg still say that he left Apple in June to "pursue other projects." The reported departure follows that of Dag Kittlaus, who quit Apple a year earlier, and should leave the Siri team without the brunt of its early leadership two years after Apple bought the company. Although the impact is uncertain, this doesn't necessarily mean Apple's version of Siri is at risk: along with holding on to any remaining Siri staff, Cupertino will have had a long time to familiarize itself with the code. We'd also take it all with a grain of salt. Apple has declined to comment, and Cheyer's LinkedIn profile still shows him as an Apple employee. Whatever's the truth, the rumor's sources don't have the best timing. [Image credit: Araya Diaz for TechCrunch, Flickr]
TAT founder Hampus Jakobsson leaves RIM for startup land (update: not as much of a blow)
RIM just can't seem to avoid staff shakeups. Hampus Jakobsson, The Astonishing Tribe founder and a key factor in BlackBerry 10's interface design, has signaled that he's leaving the smartphone maker. He cites an itch to launch another startup as the impetus behind the move, although he hasn't said what he'll be doing. We can certainly tell that Jakobsson is aware of the climate in which he's leaving -- the veteran has been quick to note that others at RIM are taking his role and that he doesn't expect an upheaval as he heads through the door. There's at least a grain of truth to the reassurances, we'd say. With BlackBerry 10 devices appearing in January on RIM's current schedule, most of the hard work on the software will likely have already been done. Nonetheless, we're sure some fans will be disappointed that a guiding light won't be around to influence any followups. [Image credit: Media Evolution, Flickr] Update: We've learned that Jakobsson had been a Director of Strategic Alliances at RIM since TAT was acquired; while the company he brought into the fold is clearly working on BlackBerry interface design, he hasn't been guiding the work himself. The departure still has an impact -- it's just at the corporate level rather than in design.
Key MeeGo team members leave Nokia, N9 owners swipe away a few tears
This week will be remembered as a volatile one if you're a MeeGo fan. Just hours after Nokia posted the PR 1.3 update for N9 owners, the company's MeeGo development lead Sotiris Makyrgiannis and other team members have confirmed that they're leaving for greener pastures. The split appears to be an amicable one, with the crew largely going to CloudBerryTec to write mobile apps (including for MeeGo) and consult on software even as they share fond memories. What's left is a lot of doubt over the fate of the swipe-driven OS itself. Nokia promised years of support for the OS as a side project following the big leap to Windows Phone, but it also hadn't mentioned the possibility of important staff departures, either. We've reached out to the company for a fuller answer -- if it turns out that MeeGo development is winding down, the staff shift could be the end to completely in-house OS creation at a company that was once defined by its custom platforms.
Star Trek Online's Dan Griffis departing Cryptic (again)
Star Trek Online Content Designer Dan "Gozer" Griffis announced that he'll be leaving his position at Cryptic Studios to head for another final frontier. The news leaked onto the forums after Griffis told a few friends over the weekend, and the subsequent mood by players has not been pretty. Griffis put it bluntly: "Yes, I will be leaving if a few weeks for a new opportunity. That's pretty much all of it. It has nothing to do with PvP, STO, or Cryptic. It's just time for me to do something different. I had planned on telling everyone on the forums at some point, but probably closer to when I was actually leaving (I'll be here for a few more weeks)." He says that PvP will be transferred to another developer, and he's not going to talk about what's in store for that part of STO. Griffis previously left Cryptic in 2010 but returned shortly thereafter. [Thanks to Don for the tip!]
ArenaNet concept art lead Kekai Kotaki announces departure
"All things must eventually come to an end." Thus writes Guild Wars 2 artist Kekai Kotaki on his Facebook page. The long-time ArenaNet employee announced his departure from the studio after eight years of working on the Guild Wars franchise. The award-winning Kotaki used his farewell message to reminisce about his journey with the studio: "This comes with a certain amount of sadness as this was my first job in the gaming industry. I first started doing ground textures for the original Guild Wars and I end it being the concept art lead on Guild Wars 2." Kotaki thanked Guild Wars fans for their support and said that he's leaving to embark on "new endeavors." He does encourage the faithful to stick around to see how Guild Wars 2 turns out. "This game will be awesome and will be a success," he writes, "and I look forward to seeing it being released."
PSA: SpaceX's Dragon due to splash down at 11:44am ET (video)
SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft successfully departed the International Space Station at 4:07am ET and began its gentle descent into the atmosphere soon after. It's the home straight for the historic private spaceflight company as it concludes its first ever supply mission to the heavens. It's due to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, a few hundred miles off the coast of southern California at 11:44am ET. If you'd like to watch the craft being retrieved from its watery berth then head on past the break, with coverage set to begin from 10:15am ET.
RIM's Chief Legal Officer is latest exec to leave the company
The trickle of departures from RIM may turn into a flood in the coming weeks if recent reports are to be believed, but things aren't staying at a standstill in the interim. The company's Chief Legal Officer Karima Bawa has today become the latest top executive to leave the BlackBerry-maker, ending a career with the company that began way back in 2000. That follows last week's departure of another longtime company vet, global sales head Patrick Spence, although Bawa is said to simply be retiring, not moving to another company. According to RIM, Bawa will also stay on to help with the hiring and training of her replacement.
RIM's global sales head departs after 14-year stretch
Research in Motion's head of global sales is leaving the company after serving the BlackBerry maker for 14 years. Patrick Spence joined the company before it had even produced its first smartphone before rising to his current position, based in London. Reuters hints that he was dissatisfied about being passed over for the vacant COO's position, due to be filled by former Sony Ericsson man Kristian Tear later this year. A spokesperson for the Canadian company said that Mr. Spence would be moving to a leadership role in another industry. [Image Credit: Globe and Mail]
Storyboard: One hundred moments and done
All good things must come to an end. Roleplaying is all about creating a shared space for your character to inhabit with other characters. It's about crafting trials and challenges that can be overcome through narrative means; it's about building a set of experiences together. And all of the columns I've written up to this point have been entirely about making that work well and creating a shared environment that's fun for everyone. But it can end. One day, you may log in to find that the people you've been roleplaying alongside are no longer there -- that the friends you once had have left, the allies you once charished have moved on, and your universe has narrowed by degrees until it's just you. After all of the roleplaying you've done, it tuns out that your group of fellow roleplayers has slowly drifted away until the only person who remembers these stories is you. And it seems fitting, for the 100th column, to talk about what happens when you're left remembering a universe that never was.
RIM confirms departures of two top BlackBerry, BBM execs
Word of a big exec shakeup at RIM leaked out just ahead of the company's quarterly earnings late last month -- something that was then quickly confirmed in said earnings report. It looks like that wasn't the end of it though, as RIM has now also confirmed the departures of two more high-level executives. That includes Senior Vice President Alan Brenner, who will be leaving after an unspecified transition period, and Alistair Mitchell, a VP for RIM's BBM service who has already left the company. No word on any further departures to come (willing or otherwise), but given Thorsten Heins' talk of a "comprehensive review" it certainly doesn't seem like the most remote of possibilities.
Peter Molyneux leaves Lionhead and Microsoft to found 22 Cans
Peter Molyneux will leave Microsoft Game / Lionhead Studios once he's finished developing Fable: The Journey for Kinect. He'll be replaced by co-founder Mark Webley at the studio, with Redmond yet to name his successor at corporate level. Molyneux will partner with (Lionhead's) former CTO Tim Rance and Director Peter Murphy on 22 Cans, developing games under their own flag as he did when founding Lionhead and Bullfrog before that. The new company is based in Farnborough, 12 miles west of Lionhead's Guildford location and was registered on February 20th of this year. Given our childhood love of both Bullfrog and Lionhead's games, we wish both parties the very best -- you can check out when he visited The Engadget Show here.
Windows Phone exec Brandon Watson leaves Microsoft, headed to Amazon
There's some more corporate reshuffling going on in the Windows Phone universe this week, now that Brandon Watson has confirmed his departure from Microsoft. Watson, who served as head of the WP Developer Experience, announced the news on his Twitter page Friday, and later told ZDNet that he's heading to Amazon, where he'll be Director of the Kindle Cross Platform team. In an e-mail to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, Watson acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, but ultimately decided that "the opportunity placed in front of me that was too big to pass up." At Amazon, the exec will be charged with laying out a roadmap for Kindle app development across first- and third-party platforms, including, of course, Windows Phone and Windows 8. Microsoft has yet to announce a replacement, issuing the following statement: "We can confirm February 6th is Brandon Watson's last day at Microsoft. Brandon did a great job helping us build a vibrant developer community and we wish him well with his next adventure."
Jon Rubinstein leaves Hewlett-Packard
Former Palm chief Jon Rubinstein has left Hewlett-Packard, having completed the 24-month commitment period he agreed to when HP acquired Palm. An HP spokesperson has confirmed the story, first reported by AllThingsD, in a brief statement: "Jon has fulfilled his commitment and we wish him well." Rubinstein rose to fame as a hardware guru at NeXT, ultimately joining Apple after the company acquired NeXT in 1996. He was instrumental in developing the iMac and PowerMac desktops before spearheading the iPod project that would herald the company's business dominance. After retiring in 2006, he joined Palm to revitalize the flagging device maker's fortunes, developing the Palm Pre and WebOS software before being crowned as its CEO in 2009. A year later, Hewlett-Packard purchased the company for $1.2 billion: but just a year later, pulled the shutters down as Rubinstein was shifted (or "dumped") to a "product innovation role" within HP, where he saw out the last of his retention period before departing. In a terse comment to The Verge, the man himself has said that he's "going to take some well deserved time off," and after the last twelve months, we wouldn't blame him.
WildStar design director Tim Cain joins Obsidian Entertainment
It would appear that Carbine Studios is down one great talent, as the studio's former Design Director, Fallout designer Tim Cain, has departed for greener pastures. The news was discovered via Cain's Linkedin account, confirming rumors of his departure that abounded over the summer. Greener pastures, in this case, means Obsidian Entertainment, which is perhaps best-known for Neverwinter Nights 2, Knights of The Old Republic 2, and Fallout: New Vegas. The studio is currently working on a game based on Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time book series. While it's unknown whether or not Cain will be returning to his old stomping grounds of the Fallout universe, it would be considerably apropos. As for Carbine, it remains to be seen who will replace Cain in the position of Design Director, but here's to hoping it's someone who can do justice to the promising sci-fi MMO.
Mark Jacobs elaborates on departure from EA Mythic
It's been a couple of years since Mark Jacobs abruptly left -- or perhaps was let go -- from EA Mythic, but curiosity around the split persists in the MMO industry. Yesterday, Jacobs opened up about the event that occurred after EA's acquisition of Mythic and BioWare. Long story short: The merge brought about changes, and Jacobs wasn't on board with them. "They made a decision on a direction they wanted to go and obviously, as we put out in our joint statement, that wasn't a direction that had a role for me, or at least the role that I wanted. It really is as simple as that. Or at least publicly. Whatever went on behind the scenes, whatever we talked about, I have no intention of sharing that," he said. Jacobs insists that EA has been kind to him in the subsequent years. "One thing I'll say publicly about EA, they have been very good in what they've said post-departure regarding me. Similarly I've been good about what I've said about them post departure." He has since gone on to form a new company to create social and mobile games. In an ironic twist, Jacobs says that the idea for getting into the social gaming market took root while he was at Mythic, but he left before acting on that notion.
Windows Phone GM Charlie Kindel leaves Microsoft to launch startup
A senior executive leaving Microsoft may not always be the best of signs for the company and / or the exec, but it appears that Charlie Kindel's just-announced departure is an amicable one for all involved. Kindel, as you may be aware, has been with Microsoft for 21 years, and most recently served as general manager for the Windows Phone Developer Ecosystem following earlier terms leading up the Windows Home Server and eHome divisions. So why pack up and leave all of a sudden? It seems Kindel has decided it was an opportune time to launch his own startup, which he's keeping suitably mysterious at the moment (something to do with "sports, advertising, mobile, social-networking, and, of course, the cloud," apparently). He has decidedly more to say about Windows Phone, however, which he calls flat-out "the BEST product Microsoft has ever built" (emphasis his), and one that he won't stop using after he leaves the company. Hit the links below for Kindel's own message announcing his departure, plus an interview with GeekWire.
HTC exec Horace Luke leaves company for 'personal reasons'
HTC is out a top executive with the departure of chief innovation officer Horace Luke. The exec has been gone for some time now, having exited at the end of April. The Taiwanese phone maker formally announced the news this week, citing "personal reasons" as the motivation behind the CIO's exit. HTC had nothing but kind words for Luke, who had been with the company since 2006, stating that he had "nurtured a culture of innovation." The company's vice president of design, Scott Croyle, has stepped into the Luke's vacant position.
Toshiyuki Takahashi (aka Master Higgins) to leave Hudson
Few single-studio careers in the gaming industry have been as lengthy or illustrious as that of Hudson's Toshiyuki Takahashi. He's something of a folk hero at the company, having appeared in the classic Adventure Island series as Master Higgins, and having become known for his uncanny ability to hit an NES button 16 times per second. He's accumulated no small amount of prestige while working at Hudson -- but in a recent post on his personal blog (as translated by Andriasang), he announced he's leaving the company at the end of this month, ending his 26-year tenure with Hudson. Takahashi didn't explain his reasons for leaving the company, or where he'd end up at next. Considering his announcement's proximity to Konami's acquisition and trimming of Hudson, we'd wager that has something to do with it. Then again, we shouldn't jump to conclusions. He might just be taking some time off to focus on his other interests, like skateboarding on clouds while collecting floating fruit, or rescuing princesses from nefarious, reptilian foes.
SOCOM 4 lead designer leaves Zipper Interactive
Zipper Interactive community manager Jeremy Dunham has confirmed SOCOM 4 lead designer Travis Steiner has left the development studio to form his own start-up company. Dunham Tweeted yesterday that Steiner wanted to finish his work on SOCOM 4 before leaving to start his own project -- and, other than a very simple flash page, the identity of that project is unknown. Considering Steiner was with Zipper Interactive for about eight years, we're sure that whatever his new excursion is will be worth keeping an eye on. Also, judging by his former studio's lineage, we're going to guess that said project will feature much shooting.
