Sega Europe's Pritchard Heads To U.S. As VP Of Sales And Marketing

Sega Europe managing director Alan Pritchard will be moving to the U.S. to fill the role of VP of sales and marketing for Sega of America, according to a report on MCV. Pritchard's appointment comes on the heels of the announcement that Sega would be taking sweeping restructuring measures across its Western games business. The company said last month that it would lay off 36 workers in its San Francisco office and 37 in London, for a total of 73 people, or about 10 percent of its Western publishing work force (not including studios). Sega said the move will allow U.S. operations to focus on the company's digital strategy, while its European branch will focus on boxed retail products. Pritchard was formerly head of Sega UK, then was promoted to Sega Europe's managing director position last year. Taking over for Pritchard at Sega Europe will be Jurgen Post. Pritchard and Sega hope to unify U.S. and European operations. "All of our central brand marketing initiatives will be done with Sega West in mind, rather than having our team in America going in one direction and our team in Europe going in another," Pritchard said. Sean Ratcliffe had previously held the position of of VP of marketing for San Francisco-based Sega of America, although it's not clear what role he currently plays with the company after Pritchard's appointment. Sega did not immediately return request for comment. At Sega Europe, the shuffle also means that European marketing director Gary Knight will take the role of VP of brand marketing, managing director of European development Gary Dunn will become SVP of development and commercial director Gary Rowe is now SVP of publishing and content.