Vivendi Universal Games Loses President, Shuffles Sales

Vivendi Universal Games, the video game arm of French conglomerate Vivendi, has announced that its North American president and COO, Phil O'Neil, has left the company. The reasons for his departure were given as a desire to "explore opportunities outside of VU Games;" neither an indication of where O'Neil will go after this nor a replacement for the position was announced. VU Games recently announced revenues of 245 million euros ($296 million), which were down 7.2% from an exceptionally large last quarter in 2004, and also recently acquired California-based independent developer High Moon Studios. The company also reorganized its worldwide sales staff in order to bolster its Sierra and Blizzard brands. The new executive vice president of global sales is Pascal Brochier, formerly VU Games' managing director at the Australian offices; Brochier will now report to the company's branch in Los Angeles, where he will report to CEO Bruce Hack. Brochier will oversee the existing sales team in his new capacity as VP of global sales. Representing North America are Bob Brown as VP of Regional Sales - South and Brad Beegle, VP of Regional Sales - West, while Xochilt Balzola-Widmann and Adam Roberts are the executive vice presidents jointly responsible for sales in Europe. Brochier himself will lead the company's sales efforts in Asian territories.