Trion Hires NCsoft, SOE Vets David Reid, Scott Hartsman

Online developer and publisher Trion World Network has hired a pair of executives who previously served at NCsoft and Sony Online Entertainment to take the roles of publishing senior vice president and CCO at the company's Redwood City headquarters. New senior vice president of publishing David Reid was NCsoft West's publishing president, and was responsible for heading up MMO launches in both North America and Europe, including the recent Aion. His past experience over more than ten years includes executive roles at then-Turner-owned game streaming service GameTap, and Microsoft's Xbox 360 group. Chief creative officer and Redwood Shores Studio general manager Scott Hartsman, who most recently spent seven years at Sony Online Entertainment focusing on EverQuest and EverQuest II. His two decades of industry experience also include several years in the early days of developer Simutronics, where he worked after contributing to Scepter of Goth, one of the first commercial multi-user dungeons -- the precursors to modern MMOs. Trion World Network CEO Lars Buttler characterized Hartsman and Reid as "dream additions" to Trion's existing staff. Reid said it was "clear that we are at the beginning of a new era of game development and interactive entertainment." "Trion is positioned extremely well to succeed in the next generation of online gaming," added Hartsman. "I'm happy to come on board in Redwood Shores to help deliver the most compelling MMO experiences and to collaborate with all of the Trion studios to introduce genre-leading games." The company is currently developing the fantasy MMO Heroes of Telara, publishing a strategy MMO by Petroglyph, and creating its own network streaming technology.