Ranyard Replaces Bozek Heading SingStar Franchise

Dave Ranyard will take over as SingStar franchise head at Sony, stepping into the role vacated by Paulina Bozek when she left the company for Atari in September. The karaoke game franchise has now topped 14 million units sold worldwide, being especially popular in Europe, where a number of locally themed versions have debuted. However, the series has been getting increasing amounts of publicity in the U.S., with the first Singstar for PlayStation 3 shipping with an online 'SingStore', and new products including Vol. 2 (with PS2 song compatibility) and Singstar Abba due out this holiday season. According to a report on GamesIndustry.biz, subsequently independently confirmed by Gamasutra, Ranyard's prior role as creative services manager will be taken by Sony London studio manager Dan Bardino. "It's a great opportunity to do a lot of creative work," Bardino told GamesIndustry.biz. "An awful lot of really creative, interesting work is going on and I'm really looking forward to focusing the group on the creative opportunities that we have with our titles."