Former head of Playstation joins Xbox team

Phil Harrison, the man who used to be one of the biggest Playstation bigwigs, is heading to the other team.

Harrison left Sony a few years ago after the PS3 was seemingly crippling the company and led to the founder of the Playstation being ousted. At the time he left to join Atari.

But now, he has his eyes set on a much bigger landscape, taking the role of Microsoft Studios corporate VP.

At Sony, his title was president of worldwide studios at Sony Computer Entertainment. So basically he is doing the exact same job but for the biggest competitor.

Harrison said of Microsoft, “I am really impressed with the company’s long-term vision for growing the market for interactive entertainment globally and also with the incredible wealth of talent, technology and resources the company has available to succeed.”

Fellow Microsoft exec Phil Spencer said Harrison was “ideal” for the team because of his length of experience.

He comes on board at a time when the Xbox 720 is poised to start making a lot of buzz, which will signify a radical shift in the gaming environment.

Microsoft needs someone to help usher in that change, and Harrison has a track record of doing that both at Sony and at Atari.