Tagged News: john smedley

Earlier today, Sony announced that SOE would move under the Sony Computer Entertainment (aka their game division) corporate banner. We wanted to find out what, if anything, that meant to SOE. So, we got on the horn and got some reaction from SOE President John Smedley. Here is what we learned:

"Nothing has changed inside SOE at all," Smedley said. "It's nice to be part of the Playstation group; we're excited about it."

Practically speaking, this is apparently a simple change in who Smedley calls boss. Previously, SOE had been under the Sony Pictures corporate umbrella and its President Yair Landau. Now, SOE is under the SCEI group, which is the corporate name for the Playstation or gaming division, and its President Kazuo Hirai.

Read more after the jump.

Sony has reorganized their online game division. SOE will now report directly to Kazuo Hirai, the President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI). Sony Online Entertainment's (SOE) John Smedley, who will continue to serve as President of SOE, now reports directly to Hirai.

The move, according to Hirai, to closely integrate the online developers with the Playstation 3 "entertainment experience".

Read the press release after the jump.

At the Game Developers Conference, WarCry had the chance to sit down and talk with SOE CEO John Smedley. The conversation revolved around their deal with Vivox and what it could do to the way gamers VOIP, as well as some tidbits on business models, DC Universe and The Agency.

SOE's software will support huge numbers of people in a single channel and frills like telephone call-in support (which likely won't incur long distance thanks to a network of local call-in numbers), and voice fonts. It will not require a fee, nor any bulky hosting software and it will be high quality Vivox sound.

SOE has not worked out all the details that hardcore VOIP gamers will need to know, but if they keep on their current path, this has the potential to be an extremely user friendly, multi-game application that could put a serious dent in Ventrilo's business. The win for SOE is that every user will be a single click away from any of SOE's many games, which reduces the barrier to entry and potentially makes them more money.

Read more after the jump.

Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley is back for another installment in his regular blog. In this edition, he shares details about SOE's fight against fraud and the solutions being implemented in the near future:

Farming has unfortunately become a big business, largely driven by companies on foreign soil that are virtually untouchable due to their location in places where the legal system just doesn't give us the tools we need to fight this. The dirty little secret of the farming business is that many of these companies use stolen credit cards as well as charging back their purchases months after they conduct transactions.

Click here to read the rest.

John Smedley the President of Sony Online Entertainment is set to deliver the first keynote speech at the upcoming ION Game Conference. The conference will take place between May 13-15 at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Seattle. Smedley is expected to discuss the past, present and future of Sony Online Entertainment as well as that of the general MMO industry.

For the full release click here or click Read More below.

John Smedley is the President and CEO of Sony Online Entertainment. We had a chance to talk to him by phone last week about his company, the games they make and where they're going. Here's a sample:

"We are very focused on taking the grind out of our next round of games," he said simply. "Our next generation is not trying to do what we did in this generation." He cited The Agency, with its more mature theme, FPS elements and cinematic-storytelling as an example.

It's been a turbulent path for Smedley and SOE. The online game division of Sony began when the company purchased Verant, the studio behind EverQuest of which Smedley was a co-founder. That blossomed into "The Station", a game hub that has since been the model for the entire industry. It included EQ and a host of smaller games, like Tanarus, an online tank-combat game, whose mechanics were a forerunner to games like Battlefield.

Read more after the jump.

John Smedley - SOE's CEO - is headed to Fan Faire this week to address the community at large. He'll be giving a speech where he talks to the fans, the press and even introduces a new game.

Read more after the click.

GameSpot has an interview up with SOE CEO John Smedley about the company's total acquisition of Sigil Games Online and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. The Carlsbad, CA office will remain intact, but at least half of Sigil's employees have been let go.

Publisher Sony Online Entertainment has confirmed that it has acquired Carlsbad, CA-based developer Sigil Online and that studio's debut title, the fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online game Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. Though not all of Sigil Online's employees will be rehired at SOE, much of the staff will join the publisher and continue to work out of the Carlsbad office.

For the official press release from SOE, click below.

The CEO of Sony Online Entertainment made a rather surprising post on the official Star Wars Galaxies website today. The note links to a blog entry written by Michael Zenke, the editor of Slashdot Games, that discussed a recently announced Firefly MMORPG.

In the news item, Smed notes that he is personally really looking forward to the game and that cynics are "pretty useless". His comments are in response to all the people who have stated their dislike of the game on many boards.

Check it out here.