Virgin appoints Walkden as CEO of downloads

Former Activision Euro VP Roger Walkden has joined Virgin's new Games Domain International business as CEO.

Walkden will oversee the launch of Virgin's platform for games downloads, A World of My Own, described by chairman Richard Branson as 'iTunes for games.'

"We are delighted to welcome a skilled industry professional of Roger's experience and calibre," commented Chris Gorman.

"His extensive experience in building partnerships within the industry makes him the perfect choice to bring GDI's new platform to the publisher and developer community."

"As a veteran of fast-growing businesses, he will be a tremendous asset as we strive for leadership of the fast-expanding games-on-demand market with the new digital distribution technology GDI has developed."

Prior to joining GDI, Walkden was vice president of UK, emerging markets and European marketing for Activision, where he helped the company reach record market share.

"GDI is set to change the way the industry is currently viewing games-on-demand by introducing A World of My Own, a technology that will dramatically shift forecasts for the market in favour of digital distribution."