EQ1 - Former IGE VP Tapped for SOE : EQ1 EverQuest 1 News

David Christianson, former Vice President of Business Development for IGE, will now be the Vice President of Business Development & International Operations for Sony Online Entertainment. In this newly created role, Christensen will be responsible for generating strategic global growth opportunities and securing key business alliances for SOE, with an emphasis on the European and Asian markets. In addition to his business development responsibilities, Christensen is tasked with managing SOE’s international operations group. Christensen will be based in SOE’s new Los Angeles studio and will report to John Needham, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Sony Online Entertainment. Christensen is a veteran of the video games industry with a broad range of business experience, including development partnerships, acquisitions, licensing and business affairs.

SOE's official press release states that "prior to joining SOE, Christensen served as Vice President of Business Development for IGE where he drove the company’s relationships with the massively multiplayer publishing community."

MMO players are certainly familiar with IGE, since it is the largest company behind real money transactions, or selling gold in online games. I am not sure what "relationships" the press release is referring to, since most MMOs are still calling real money transactions a black market, and certainly buying platinum and powerleveling services is not condoned in EverQuest.

In past years, IGE bought up many of the EverQuest fan sites, including OGaming, and used them as advertising platforms for the gold selling market.

All is fair in business, however, and I am sure Mr. Christensen can figure out ways to make SOE, including EverQuest, much more profitable using his prior experience in global marketing. The irony, however, is inescapable.


http://www.ige.com/eq/platinum/everquest_en.html