NCsoft Announces Formation of “NC West”
NCsoft Announces Formation of “NC West”
CEO Taek Jin Kim Promotes Chris Chung, Jeff Strain, David Reid, and Patrick
Wyatt
SEOUL, Korea, Sept. 10, 2008— NCsoft ® Corporation (KSE: 036570.KS), the world’s
leading publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs),
including award-winning franchises Lineage ®, Guild Wars ® and City of Heroes ®,
today announced the formation of “NC West™”. A wholly-owned subsidiary of NCsoft
with operating responsibility for western regions including the US and Europe,
NC West will be led by Chris Chung as CEO, Jeff Strain as president, product
development, David Reid as president, publishing, and Patrick Wyatt as CTO as
well as yet unannounced European executives.
NCsoft’s existing subsidiaries NC Interactive, NC Europe, NC Austin, and
ArenaNet will be led as a unified organization under NC West with a dedicated
focus towards becoming the world’s premier western publisher of MMOs. NC West is
the tentative name for the organization, and the company expects to announce
final naming and corporate structure in the near future. NC West's headquarters
is planned to be established in Seattle, WA by the end of 2008.
Chris Chung, previously CEO of NC Interactive, has a long history with NCsoft.
He began his tenure at NCsoft’s ArenaNet® studio, where he managed that studio’s
business and helped launch the multi-platinum selling Guild Wars franchise.
Chung later went on to become the chief publishing officer for NCsoft’s Seoul
headquarters. Prior to NCsoft, Chung spent more than five years at Microsoft and
later co-founded a marketing research firm. As CEO of NC West, Chung will
continue to report directly to NCsoft CEO Taek Jin (TJ) Kim.
“We are confident that by combining our subsidiaries into a unified global
organization under Chris Chung’s leadership, NC West will become a more powerful
force to be reckoned with in the western MMO market,” said TJ Kim. “Chris has
become a guiding force within our company and has been extremely successful at
every position he has held with us. His detailed first-hand knowledge of all
aspects of our business is invaluable and will help establish NC West as a
global leader.”
Jeff Strain was formerly the president and co-founder of ArenaNet, a company he
formed with Patrick Wyatt and Mike O’Brien when they left senior roles at
Blizzard Entertainment in 2000. Additionally, Strain held the position of
executive producer of Guild Wars 2™ prior to taking this new role. Strain will
report directly to Chung and manage all NC West development studios across all
existing and future products. Strain will also direct the production of NCsoft’s
Asian-developed titles for NC West territories.
David Reid began with NCsoft in March 2008 as vice-president, marketing for
North America. Reid came to NCsoft from Turner Broadcasting’s GameTap, where he
served as vice-president, marketing. Prior to that, he worked at Microsoft as
director of global platform marketing, where he launched the Xbox 360. In his
new role, Reid will continue to report to Chung and will lead franchise
management, marketing, public relations, sales, and customer support for NC
West.
As a founder of ArenaNet, Patrick Wyatt led the development of the network and
server technologies for the Guild Wars franchise, and directed the architecture
and deployment of ArenaNet's global game network infrastructure. Before
co-founding ArenaNet with Strain and O'Brien, Wyatt was the vice president of
research and development for Blizzard Entertainment, where he led programming
for the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo franchises. As CTO for NC West, Wyatt
will report to Chung and will focus on platform technology development, network
operations, and systems engineering.
“There is an unparalleled opportunity for growth in the massively multiplayer
online market,” said Chris Chung. “By combining the strength of our US and
European teams, NCsoft has the best global infrastructure to win in new and
existing markets, and the best developer talent capable of creating blockbuster
MMO franchises.”
About NC West
NC West is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation, a world
leading publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games including
Lineage/Lineage II, Guild Wars, City of Heroes, Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa®,
and Aion®: The Tower of Eternity™. More information about NCsoft can be found at
http://www.PlayNC.com.
NCsoft, ArenaNet, Lineage, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, Tabula
Rasa, Aion, The Tower of Eternity and all associated logos and designs are
trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks
are the property of their respective owners.