Google Game Developer Advocate DeLoura Leaves Company

Mark DeLoura, the game industry veteran who was most recently game developer advocate for Google, has left the search engine giant after just announcing the new job in April this year. "This past Monday, I left Google," he wrote on his blog. "There are a lot of very interesting things going on at Google right now, and I enjoyed working with many of the people there, but it was not the perfect fit for me. I’m looking forward to my next adventure." DeLoura, who has a technical background in the games industry working for companies like Sony, Ubisoft and Gamasutra affiliate Game Developer magazine, said at the time of his hiring at Google, "I personally feel that Google hiring someone specifically to focus on games is a signal from the company that they recognize the growing importance of games as a medium." Google has been paying an increasing amount of attention to the gaming space with game initiatives relating to Google Android, Google's open source 3D API O3D, Chrome and Chrome OS. The company also owns the 3D modeling tool SketchUp. Most recently, at GDC Europe last week, DeLoura unveiled details on Google's Chrome Web Store, where users can more easily locate, buy and play game apps. The company is due to launch the store in October this year. DeLoura did not specify where he is headed next, although he apparently has something lined up. It hasn't been announced who, if anyone, will take the place of game developer advocate at Google. He added that he's looking forward to further advancements in the distribution, development and playing of games.