Industry Movers: PlaySpan, Immersion, Jagex & More

October 26, 2008 | By: David Radd

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This week in Movers, former Sony man Chris Deering joined PlaySpan, Immersion promoted an exec to CTO, Jagex appointed a head of Runescape, Playlogic brought on a managing director, Zoe Mode hired two, and Gamer Doc added to its team.

PlaySpan – Chris Deering
PlaySpan announced recently that Chris Deering has joined the company's advisory board. He will help the company reach out across various regions of the world.

"It is a great privilege to have such a leading and reputable executive of the gaming industry as Chris Deering on our advisory board," said Karl Mehta, Founder & CEO of PlaySpan Inc. "Chris' knowledge of the European gaming industry and the game industry as a whole will be invaluable to PlaySpan as we expand on a global scale."

Deering has served as VP of International Marketing at Atari, and spent 10 years as Senior VP at Sony Pictures, where he was COO of International Video. He's known more recently for founding and serving as CEO of the Sony PlayStation Division for EMEA and Australasia from 1995 through 2005. Currently, he sits on the boards of several tech firms, in addition to serving as Chairman of the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival.

"The PlaySpan microtransaction platform delivers the next big revenue stream to game publishers based on in-game commerce and complements subscription and advertising revenue streams," said Deering. "I am impressed with the all- star team at PlaySpan/ PayByCash and their industry leading technology which has gained rapid adoption by reputable game developers and publishers worldwide. I look forward to helping PlaySpan realize its objective to become global market leader."

Immersion Corporation - Christophe Ramstein
Immersion, the leading licensor of touch feedback technology for the video game industry and other industries, sent word on Friday that it's promoted Dr. Christophe Ramstein to chief technology officer (CTO).

"As CTO Christophe will drive Immersion's technology leadership in haptics and innovation around the world, enabling groundbreaking new applications for our technology and solutions," commented Clent Richardson, Immersion president and CEO. "Christophe is an authority and dynamic force within our engineering, research, and development groups and has been leading development and research during his 8-year tenure with the company. He has forged a culture of innovation and fostered the world's premier portfolio of haptics-related intellectual property. His new role reflects his passion for evangelizing Immersion's vision for the future of user experiences in digital devices as well as his charismatic approach to influencing global business alliances and building and motivating teams."

Ramstein had been serving as senior vice president of research and engineering for Immersion. Ramstein is an expert in the field of haptics, having designed, developed and evangelized haptic systems since 1988. Back in '95, he founded Haptic Technologies, Inc., which was then acquired by Immersion in 2000. Ramstein has since played a key role in the development of Immersion's many solutions for touch feedback.

"My experience and inexhaustible passion for haptics prepares me for this opportunity to enable the design community to think differently, to break out of the conventional sight and sound box and create the next-generation of digital user experience -- more tangible, intuitive, and lively," said Ramstein. "It will be my great pleasure to unleash the full potential of Immersion's technology to elevate today's products and inspire the most forward-thinking designers."

Jagex – Vince Farquharson
Recently, Jagex announced that it has appointed Vince Farquharson as the head of RuneScape. He will focus on the expansion of RuneScape through the development of content and launching the game in new territories.

"Vince brings a wealth of industry experience, making him the ideal candidate for Head of RuneScape. We see him as a fantastic addition to RuneScape, at a time when the game is surging in popularity," said Geoff Iddison, Jagex CEO.

Farquharson's experience includes time at Empire Interactive, Computer Artworks and Bullfrog. He was most recently at THQ, where he worked as Creative Director and Development Director for three years on titles like MotoGP 07, Worms: A Space Oddity, Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command and Broken Sword: The Angel of Death.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining the RuneScape team," said Farquharson. "Since its launch in 2001 RuneScape has evolved into a phenomenal success with millions of players across the world. I'm very excited to be working with the team responsible for this, as we take the game forward into 2009 and beyond."