Buena Vista Games Gets Meyers, Murari

Aggressively expanding Disney-owned video game publisher and developer Buena Vista Games, Inc. has announced two significant executive hires, bringing on board Mark Meyers as vice president of internal studios and Raj Murari as vice president of strategic development and integration, as it seeks to expand and manage both its internal game teams and its Asian operations. Fresh from the recent news earlier this year that Buena Vista has acquired developer Avalanche Software (Tak and the Power of JuJu, 25 To Life, Dragon Ball Z Sagas: Evolution) and established a new development studio in Vancouver, Canada, Propaganda Games, led by former Electronic Arts Canada senior development and business staff, former Midway and Sony executive Mark Meyers will lead BVG's two internal studios. According to Buena Vista, Meyers, who previously served as studio director at Redzone Studio and co-director of 989 Sports at Sony Computer Entertainment America, and also held a number of senior production roles at Midway, will spearhead the internal studios' continued growth, and will also manage studio technologies and set strategies for technology sharing between internal resources. In addition, Raj Murari, who was formerly CFO of both Disney Consumer Products Japan and Walt Disney International - Japan, will be responsible for worldwide business expansion initiatives, new strategies and business opportunities on a global level, and is also responsible for establishing BVG's business in Asia, where many Disney products are extremely well-known, and where previous Disney development collaborations on titles such as Kingdom Hearts have been resoundingly successful. "As we continue to strengthen our internal games publishing operations, it was essential to add new positions in the areas of internal studios management, new business development and operational integration," said Graham Hopper, senior vice president and general manager, Buena Vista Games. "Raj Murari and Mark Meyers bring tremendous experience to the BVG executive team, from development studio operations to building and integrating new business acquisitions and partnerships globally."