Phil Harrison has been appointed as President and Directeur Général Délégué at Infogrames, the parent company of Atari. Harrison also joins the Board of Directors. Harrison brings over 20 years of industry experience to the table, 15 years of that spent at Sony. Just last week Harrison announced that he would be leaving his position as President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios.

Grow the Atari brand into a leading online gane company

Harrison’s new role will see him reporting to David Gardner, newly appointed CEO of Infogrames (formerly of EA). His main duty will be “to lead group publishing and game development into the network era.” Harrison and Gardner “will together form the basis of a transformational leadership team at Infogrames that will grow the Atari brand into a leading online game company.”

Harrison will be in charge of overseeing the Studios as well as content development for the group. Infogrames are hoping that Harrison will be able to boost Infogrames’ publishing activities, “through reinforcing its franchise portfolio of products, developing its new packaged and online games and strengthening its internal and external studio capability through attracting world-class design and development talent to the organisation.”

Seeking to develop studio and online capabilities

David Gardner, CEO of Infogrames, commented “I am pleased to welcome Phil to Infogrames. He has an outstanding reputation in the industry, as one of the key leaders behind the success of PlayStation. We have been seeking an opportunity to work together for some time and I am certain he will be able to make a significant contribution to the publishing strategy of the Group.”

“Drawing upon Infogrames’ strong financial foundation, Phil will have the means to attract new talent, develop studio and online capabilities, and drive forward our publishing activities. I want to work with people that understand fun for consumers and fun in the company culture. We’re going to have a lot more of both around here with Phil!”

Help shape the future of Atari

Phil Harrison had this to say about his appointment, “This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari - one of the industry’s legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over. I am especially excited to be working on this challenge together with David, one of the most respected leaders and successful executives in our industry.”

Atari is currently experiencing quite a few difficulties, apart from severe financial losses and selling most of its franchises last year, it is also facing delisting on the Nasdaq exchange. This does not seem to have dampened the spirits of Harrison, Gardner or Michel Combes, Chairman of the Board who commented “Having spent their entire careers in the video games industry, David Gardner and Phil Harrison bring their vision, their passion and a proven track-record of success in this arena to Infogrames.”

“Phil Harrison is a great business developer, with an outstanding ability to innovate great products in the games industry. He brings with him an impressive track record from Sony, one of the leading technology, media and entertainment companies in the world. We are delighted that he has decided to join Infogrames at this transformative moment in its history to spearhead our publishing, game development and studio activities.”