Trion Adds Former EA Execs

Officials from online game publisher and developer Trion World Network have announced that former EA execs Erin Turner and Peter Huang have joined the company as online publishing head and technology lead, respectively. Turner comes to Trion from a position as director of global e-commerce at Electronic Arts, where she was responsible for digital distribution of PC games for North America, Europe and Asia. Before that, she directed product development for EA’s online SDK, including online game capabilities and community applications, and has had a hand in Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, The Sims 2 University, James Bond 007: Everything of Nothing, and James Bond 007: Nightfire. She also was a founding CEO for music search and recommendation company Gigabeat, which was acquired by Napster in 2001. Prior to joining Trion, Peter Huang led EA Online and EA China as senior director of development, including focuses on online technologies for EA's Pogo.com and the publisher's Asialand International markets. Trion was founded in late 2006 by Dr. Lars Buttler, former vice president of Global Online at Electronic Arts, and Jon van Caneghem, founder and former publisher of New World Computing, and creator of the bestselling Might and Magic game series. Little is yet known about what products Trion are developing, but it appears to include some kind of virtual world element. Trion is not restricting itself to games, either. With a multitude of partnerships — from game development studios to corporate media giants — the company plans to do business in not one type of content, but three: games, online, and traditional media (television and film). Said CEO and co-founder Butler, “We are extremely excited to bring Erin and Peter on-board. Not only are they leaders in the world of web and online games, they are a proven team whose vision and experience will ensure we deliver on our mission to captivate audiences with game services across multiple platforms in a global market.”