Paul Maglione Named President; Unit Plans for Accelerated Growth, Expansion in
North America, Europe and Asia
LOS ANGELES, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Vivendi Universal Games ("VU Games")
announced today the formation of a new division, Vivendi Universal Games
Mobile ("VUG Mobile"), dedicated to publishing games for the emerging mobile
games market. VU Games also named Paul Maglione, who moves from a major
mobile games publisher, as President of VUG Mobile.
The new mobile unit is based in Meudon near Paris, France with regional
headquarters for North America in Los Angeles and for Asia-Pacific in
Singapore. It will operate under the leadership of Paul Maglione, reporting
into Cindy Cook, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, VU Games.
"Mobile gaming continues to grow exponentially as broadband cellular
networks roll out, consumer awareness increases, and handsets become more
robust graphically," said Cindy Cook, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer, VU
Games. "We are therefore particularly pleased to enter this segment led by
world-class management and development teams, with proven success in
development and porting, a string of top-selling, premium-branded titles
already in the catalog, and a very strong pipeline of innovative product in
development."
In addition to three Crash Bandicoot(R) titles, other top-selling VUG
Mobile franchises in the market include two Spyro the Dragon(R) titles, and
two titles in the iconic Leisure Suit Larry(R) series. Recent new additions
to the VUG Mobile line-up are SWAT(R) Force, based on the best-selling VUG PC
franchise; and strategy title Empire Earth(R) Mobile. VUG Mobile will be
demonstrating several new games at upcoming industry events beginning with the
Game Developers Conference ("GDC Mobile") on March 20-21, CTIA Wireless, April
5-7, Mobile Content World Asia, April 4-6, and the Electronic Entertainment
Expo (E3) at the Los Angeles Convention Center May 10-12.
"VU Games has already shown significant success in its mobile game
offerings in Europe and North America, and I am excited about the opportunity
to build from this foundation and help grow VUG Mobile into a global mobile
gaming market leader which will play a major role in this industry," stated
Paul Maglione, President, VUG Mobile. "Our plan is to leverage our
relationships within the Vivendi Universal family and harness our original IP
catalog as well as seek fresh concepts from the wider development community to
create the most entertaining games for mobile gamers worldwide."
VUG Mobile will build off its current base of popular games sold by
70 mobile network operators across 40 countries, including the hugely
successful Crash Bandicoot(R) franchise which has generated more than
1.5 million downloads to date. VUG Mobile's portfolio will leverage
cross-marketing opportunities with current VU Games titles; exploit VUG's back
catalogue of classic games; publishing culturally relevant titles for specific
geographies; and source high-profile entertainment licenses and mainstream
content appealing to a wide range of mobile gamers.
About Paul Maglione
Maglione brings over 20 years of media and entertainment experience to
Vivendi Universal Games, covering print, television, the Internet and mobile
media, and will lead Vivendi Universal Games' efforts in the mobile market
worldwide. Prior to joining Vivendi Universal Games as President of Vivendi
Universal Games Mobile ("VUG Mobile"), he served as Senior Vice President of
Publishing and Marketing at I-Play. Prior to his appointment with I-Play, he
held senior marketing positions with CNN, Turner Broadcasting, NBC Europe and
in the consumer goods industry.
About VUG Mobile
VUG Mobile has current game offerings live across 70 operators in
40 countries. These titles include: Crash Nitro Kart(R), Crash
Twinsanity(TM), Crash(R) Tag Team Racing, Spyro Ripto Quest, Spyro the
Dragon(R), Leisure Suit Larry Magna Cum Laude, Leisure Suit Larry Sexy
Pinball, Empire Earth and SWAT Force. The company is a subsidiary of Vivendi
Universal Games. For further information, visit http://www.vugames.com.
About Vivendi Universal Games
Vivendi Universal Games (http://www.vugames.com) is a global developer, publisher
and distributor of multi-platform interactive entertainment. The company is a
leader in the subscription-based massively multi-player online (MMO) games
category, holds leading positions in the PC, console and handheld games
markets, and is an emerging player in mobile and wireless games. Its
development studios and publishing labels include Blizzard Entertainment(R),
Radical Entertainment, Sierra(R) Entertainment, Massive Entertainment(TM),
Swordfish Studios and High Moon Studios. VU Games' library of over 700 titles
features owned intellectual properties including Warcraft(R), StarCraft(R),
Diablo(R) and World of Warcraft(R) from Blizzard Entertainment; Crash
Bandicoot(R), Spyro The Dragon(R), Empire Earth(R), Leisure Suit Larry(R), and
Ground Control(R) from Sierra(R) Entertainment. VU Games also maintains
strategic relationships with industry leading content partners, including
Universal Music Group, NBC Universal, Twentieth Century Fox and Ludlum
Entertainment.
SOURCE Vivendi Universal Games
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Related links:
http://www.vugames.com
CONTACT:
Media, Erik Reynolds of Vivendi Universal
Games, +1-310-431-4530, Erik.Reynolds@vugames.com; or New
Business Opportunities, Virginie Grange of Vivendi Universal
Games Mobile, +1-310-431-4155, Virginie.Grange@vugames.com
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