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Update: SCEE just put out a statement on this, saying Bozek will be missed.

Iconic SingStar boss Paulina Bozek has quit Sony to take a job with Phil Harrison’s Infogrames.

Bozek is now development director of a new online game studio at the firm.

“I am very excited to be joining Atari at this pivotal time for both the company and the industry,” said Bozek.

“There is a huge opportunity as gaming platforms become more ubiquitous, more connected and attract more mainstream audiences. Atari has a great vision for the future and I can’t wait to start realising that vision in new products and services.”

Harrison, obviously, is quite pleased.

“This is a significant step in expanding Atari’s online game development capability,” he said.

“Paulina is one of the industry’s most respected creative leaders with an outstanding track-record of commercial and creative success and I’m delighted that she will bring her unique vision, consumer insight and proven ability for creating amazing entertainment experiences to Atari.”

Press release after he break.

INFOGRAMES ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF PAULINA BOZEK AS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR OF NEW ONLINE GAME STUDIO

- Award-Winning Game Director Of $500 Million, 15 Million Unit-Selling SingStar® Franchise to Lead New Online Game Development Team at Atari, Based In London -

LONDON, UK – 8 September 2008 – Infogrames Entertainment, under its consumer brand Atari, today announces the formation of a new in-house game development studio under the creative and production leadership of Paulina Bozek, one of the games industry’s most pioneering and successful producers. At Atari, Paulina will apply her outstanding production and development skills to establish a new game development team and studio based in London. The new studio will focus on innovating and developing mass-market consumer games and services for online-enabled devices including Personal Computers and game consoles.

“This is a significant step in expanding Atari’s online game development capability,” said Phil Harrison, President of Infogrames. “Paulina is one of the industry’s most respected creative leaders with an outstanding track-record of commercial and creative success and I’m delighted that she will bring her unique vision, consumer insight and proven ability for creating amazing entertainment experiences to Atari.”

“I am very excited to be joining Atari at this pivotal time for both the company and the industry,” said Paulina Bozek. “There is a huge opportunity as gaming platforms become more ubiquitous, more connected and attract more mainstream audiences. Atari has a great vision for the future and I can’t wait to start realising that vision in new products and services.”

For the past 6 years Paulina has been Executive Producer and Game Director of the multi-award winning SingStar franchise on PlayStation®2 and PLAYSTATION®3 at Sony Computer Entertainment’s London Studio. SingStar has achieved combined sales of over 15 Million units and life-time revenue of approximately $500M (measured at retail and online worldwide). The most recent version of SingStar on PLAYSTATION 3 incorporates a variety of online innovations including integrated commerce, community and user-generated content services.

The new Atari studio will initially be located in Hammersmith, west London and will recruit industry-leading technical, creative and production resources, both as in-house employees and externally contracted resources.

About Paulina Bozek:

Paulina started her career in games in 1999 at Ubisoft in Montreal, Canada where she worked with a small team to launch and project manage GameLoft.com, Ubisoft’s then online portal of game services and communities. In 2003, she joined Sony’s London Studio and was appointed as the Producer of SingStar shortly afterwards, over-seeing the production and creative direction of the Franchise. Since its release, the SingStar Franchise has been instrumental in establishing games as popular entertainment for mainstream audiences.

Paulina is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the first ever BAFTA Interactive New Talent Award in 2004. In 2007, she was listed in the Top 10 rising stars of the Media field on the ‘Courvoisier Future 500 List.’ And in 2008 Mangagement Today listed Paulina in its annual list of top ’35 women under 35’ in British Business. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies and an MSc in Media & Communications from the London School of Economics.

About Infogrames Entertainment and Atari:
The Infogrames group, including the Atari brand, is a global producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software for all market segments and all interactive game platforms including consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony, advanced smartphones, Personal Computers, web and online. Its games are sold in more than 60 countries through an international distribution network and direct to consumers via www.atari.com.

Atari’s extensive catalogue of popular games is based on original franchises (Alone in the Dark, Test Drive, V-Rally, My Horse & Me, Backyard Sports franchise, Total Annihilation, Outcast etc.), publishing properties (The Witcher, Legendary, Race Pro etc.), international licenses (Dragon Ball Z, Dungeons & Dragons, Jamie Oliver etc.) and classic games covering the entire history of the video game industry (Pong, Missile Command, Asteroids etc).