TWO VIDEOGAME
VETERANS TO HEAD SAMMY STUDIOS’ LOS ANGELES OPERATION
New General Manager and
VP of Business Development will Lead External Development and Increase
Company’s Hollywood Presence
LOS
ANGELES, Calif. – November 17, 2003 –
Sammy Studios Inc., a developer, publisher and global distributor of
interactive entertainment content, today announced two videogame industry
veterans have joined the company. Steve Ackrich joins as general manager,
Sammy Studios-L.A., and Tim Campbell will serve as vice president of business
development, Sammy Studios. Both Steve and Tim come from Atari, Inc., where
they managed acquisition and development of such successful franchises as
Unreal,
Terminator,
Godzilla,
Dungeons & Dragons and
The Matrix, among others. They
will use their expertise in working with some of the industry’s biggest
properties to guide external development for Sammy Studios and head licensing
at the company’s one-year old L.A. office.
“I’m thrilled to introduce
two professionals with a history of excellence in the videogame industry as
the latest additions to our management roster,” said John Rowe, CEO of Sammy
Studios, Inc. “Steve and Tim bring to us proven leadership in areas integral
to our young company’s growth strategy. It’s also a terrific opportunity for
them as they help elevate a new brand in videogames.”
Before joining Sammy
Studios, Steve Ackrich was vice president of product development with Atari
Inc. He joined the company when it acquired Accolade, Inc., eventually
managing development of key properties that helped establish Atari’s L.A.
studio as a creator of popular license-based videogame titles. Brands under
Steve’s management accounted for approximately $150 million a year in revenues
for Atari. Prior to Atari, he served as director of third party licensing for
Sega of America during the company’s successful Genesis console period. In
his 18 years in the industry Steve has held producing and product management
roles for such companies as Activision and Silicon Graphics.
“It’s great to join a
company striving for success in this industry and knowing the right formula to
achieve it,” said Steve. “Sammy Studios is poised to make a substantial
impact on the interactive entertainment industry in the coming years. I look
forward to helping them establish an environment that continues to attract the
best internal and external development talent, and ultimately make us known as
a creator of innovative, hugely successful games.”
Tim Campbell served as
director of business development at Atari. He joined the company when it was
primarily publishing titles developed in Europe and played an instrumental
role in their growth of U.S.-based game development. Tim also supervised
licensor relations for Atari’s biggest properties with companies such as
Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures and DC Comics. Before Atari,
Tim was manager of interactive business development for Fresh Water Spigot,
Inc., where he oversaw license acquisitions for clients including Midway,
Acclaim and Activision.
“What drew me to Sammy
Studios is their broad strategy for growing their games business,” said Tim.
“They are continuing to expand their internal development capabilities, foster
relations with external developers and reach out to content companies that are
interested in having their properties developed into videogames. I’m happy to
join a company that is focused on making great products to succeed in the
games industry.”
Sammy Studios was founded in spring 2002 as
the global videogame development and publishing subsidiary of Sammy
Corporation, one of Japan’s most successful amusement and entertainment
companies. Sammy Studios oversees growth in Sammy’s game publishing business
in North America and Europe, and also represents its first internal game
development operation. The company recently launched a state-of-the-art
complex in Carlsbad, California, that acts as its main game studio and
headquarters. Sammy Studios opened its Los Angeles office to expand internal
game development and bring on board a licensing team focused on bringing
entertainment properties to videogames. In 2004, Sammy Studios will release
the first of its internally developed titles, along with the biggest portfolio
of games ever to be published under its brand.
# # #
About
Sammy Studios, Inc.
Established in 2002 and headed by leading
professionals from the interactive and traditional entertainment industries,
Sammy Studios creates and distributes interactive entertainment content for a
variety of channels, including video game titles for Sony PlayStation® 2,
Microsoft Xbox™, Nintendo Game Cube® and Game Boy® Advance, PC and Macintosh.
The company has offices in the US and Europe, with headquarters, as well as a
state-of-the-art development studio in Carlsbad, California, and a second
office and video game studio complex located in Los Angeles, California.
Sammy Studios is releasing its first internally developed videogame and the
biggest slate of titles published under its brand to-date in 2004. The
company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sammy Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, an
entertainment and amusement conglomerate with projected earnings in 2003 of $2
billion and one of the top-rated companies traded on the First Section of the
Tokyo Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit
www.sammystudios.com.
