Phil Harrison Resigns from Sony Worldwide Studios to Join Atari?
Sources have indicated to GamesIndustry.biz that the head of Sony Worldwide Studios, Phil Harrison, who will leave the company at the end of this week, is to join Atari in the near future.
Harrison, who recently expressed his frustration at Sony Japan’s lack of foresight on the casual games front - ceding ground to Nintendo in the process - will apparently join up with ex-EA executive David Gardner and spearhead Atari’s push into the casual space.
He’s going to be a big loss to Sony. It’s going to be very interesting to see how Sony’s First Party output develops from this point onwards.
Not to take the discussion to the shotbox, but come on..? Nobody likes all games, its that simple. Some like the mother, other like the daughter 
Keep your "hate-articles" coming, Gary!
February 25th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Casual gaming…ugh!
He should have just joined Nintendo.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:44 am
wtf??!!?
Why? -Theres got to be more in it than casual gaming…?
February 25th, 2008 at 7:06 am
Maybe hes bored of waitin 4 -
HOME,
L.B.P,
KillZone2,
PSN Cards(in U.K),
DS3 Pads(in U.K),
In-game XMB
etc etc :-/
February 25th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Sad day tbh
I liked Harrison and now he’s gone
I think, this is part of the explanation of why Sony didn’t have a keynote at GDC this year
February 25th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Big loss for Sony.
Phil going to Atari to do casual games is a money move on Phil’s Part. Casual gaming is huge $ and only going to get bigger. Phil always put a human face on a marketing dysfunctional Sony Corporation. He will be missed at E3.
I’m sure that Sony will find someone to replace him but it is going to be very hard for them to find someone. The Sony management is almost as dysfunctional as the Toronto Maple Leafs.
First they “retire” Kutiragi. The one guy who’s vision is actually paying off for Sony.
Now Phil “resigns” in what looks like Corporate retribution for Phils comments last week. It has that Japanese “Saving Face” kind of feel to it, doesn’t it.
Good luck Phil, your candid statements will be missed. Maybe he’ll blog.
Maybe he’ll do an interview for PS3blog.net?
February 25th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Wow, I hope this isn’t true (although these things usually are).
I thought Sony was doing a great job of funding the right blend of titles.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I really hope sony doesn’t lose the variety that it has spent so long creating on the games front. Phil always came off as very intelligent and on point, never seeming too stiff or rehearsed. Hopefully if they choose to replace him with someone soon, they will chose someone with a similar vision of what the company should be. Kaz, although he has experience seeing things from the side of sony outside of japan, he may be too close to Sony Japan to make objective decisions about the breadth of games that the rest of the world would enjoy.
I am really going to miss Phil, but hopefully all will be fine if they choose the right person. Sony as a whole is changing, with the hiring of Howard Stringer, i doubt sony will be reverting to old ways.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
i’ll miss phil too, he was a great spokesperson for sony. smart and amiable. i hope they find someone good to replace him.