En Masse bolsters US team
Former Bungie and Microsoft employees hired by TERA publisher
New game publisher En Masse, which is set to release Korean MMO TERA in the West later this year, has added to its US team with former members of Bungie and Microsoft, among others.
The company, which announced its formation in February, has made four key hires, which CEO Dr Jae-Heon Yang said added "veteran strength" to its team.
"We want En Masse Entertainment to serve as a magnet for creative talent," he said. "As we build toward the launch of TERA, we are adding veteran strength to all facets of the company to ensure a top notch action MMO experience for our customers."
Joining En Masse as creative services director is Aaron LeMay - who has worked as senior visual designer at Bungie, and contributed to franchises including Halo 3, Saint's Row and Red Faction - and former global PR lead for Dragon Age and Mass Effect, Matt Atwood, who joins the company as public relations director.
Markus Schweig, a former Microsoft employee who built its Xbox Live Operations Center and who also served as CTO of Smith and Tinker, has been hired as network operations director, while David Noonan, formerly managing editor of the official Magic: The Gathering magazine, has been hired as lead writer.
En Masse is based in Seattle and exists as a wholly owned subsidiary of leading Korean MMO company Bluehole Studio.
Its publishing VP Chris Lee told GamesIndustry.biz earlier this year that it was the company's high calibre of talent that would stand it apart from other publishers in the space.