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Trion World Network Expands with New San Diego Studio; Nicholas Beliaeff to Head New Office(Wireless News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Trion World Network (Trion) has tapped Nicholas Beliaeff, former Executive Director of Development and San Diego Studio Manager for Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), to grow the publisher and developer s San Diego presence as well as manage game development across all of Trion s studio locations. The move to build a new studio in San Diego cements Trion in the top locations for server-based game development in the U.S. With offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin and now San Diego, Trion noted, it is poised to emerge as a premium publisher and developer of server-based games. The company said that Nicholas Beliaeff brings with him a nearly twenty year career in games. Most recently at SOE, he built the console division and launched new IP, such as Untold Legends and Field Commander, as well as operating SOE s EverQuest I & II, EverQuest: Online Adventures, PlanetSide and Vanguard franchises. As the head of development at SOE San Diego, Beliaeff managed and monitored design and operational steps for the studio s games. Prior to SOE, Beliaeff had a storied career in prominent game companies such as Strategic Simulations, Inc., The 3DO company and New World Computing. The company also said that Bill Trost, Robert Hill and Brandon Bogle, all former key players at SOE, will join Trion under Beliaeff s leadership. Bogle joins the team as Principal Engineer; Trost will tackle the Lead Game Designer role, while Hill is on-board as Senior Producer. Trion continues to build an exceptional studio organization and unique worldwide publishing network for server-based games and connected entertainment, Lars Buttler, CEO and co-founder, Trion, said. We are thrilled to have Nicholas, Bill, Rob, Brandon, and other outstanding game developers seed our San Diego studio. Led by Dr. Lars Buttler, former Vice President for Global Online at Electronic Arts, and Jon Van Caneghem, former founder and CEO of New World Computing and creator of the Might and Magic and Heroes game franchises, Trion has assembled a team of gaming and online veterans with proven success and talent in business, original content development and technology who have developed and shipped more than 100 original titles. Recently, Trion announced a 30 million dollar round of funding led by Rustic Canyon Partners, the LA-based VC firm with strong ties to the media and entertainment industry. Time Warner, a media and entertainment company, GE/NBC Universal s Peacock Equity Fund, as well as Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), a unit of global media company Bertelsmann AG, a European entertainment group, invested side-by-side, strengthening Trion s unique ability to bring a new level of original entertainment to the Broadband era on a global scale. Existing Trion investors, DCM and Trinity Ventures also participated. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) ((Distributed on behalf of 10Meters via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com)) ((10Meters - http://www.10meters.com)) Copyright 2007 Wireless News |