Warner Expands Digital Focus With New Exec Appointment

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group on Tuesday announced the promotion of Jeff Junge, who is charged with expanding the company's digital gaming business. Junge will serve as SVP of Online Games and Digital Games Platforms, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Junge will oversee Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine, which he led Warner to acquire in April this year for a reported $160 million. The focus on online means Warner is increasing concentration on direct-to-consumer business models. Warner has been making calculated moves into the games industry over the past several years through acquisitions of companies including Monolith Productions, Snowblind Studios, TT Games and others. Warner also recently acquired a majority stake in UK-based Batman: Arkham Asylum developer Rocksteady, and paid $33 million for bankrupt Midway Games' assets. Junge's other responsibilities include overseeing the integration of TT Games, which Warner acquired in 2007. He will also "expand and leverage" Turbine's digital publishing and community platforms across all of Warner's home entertainment businesses -- even beyond gaming. Junge was most recently SVP of business management for the Home Entertainment Group, which house Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "This newly created position reflects the natural evolution of Jeff’s role in the organization as we further expand our digital presence in the games space," said Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara. Junge also led Warner's investment in the cloud computing service OnLive, which is slated to launch this year. He will report to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president Martin Tremblay and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution president Thomas Gewecke.