Gaming Vets Veevaert, Cohen To Head Jerry Bruckheimer Games
This story was written by Rory Maher.
In 2007, Jerry Bruckheimer (pictured, right) announced plans to develop video games via a partnership with MTV Games. Since then, details about the venture have been scant. But this morning, Bruckheimer, the producer of films including Pirates of The Caribbean and the CSI TV franchise, said he had hired a team to run the studio, veterans Jim Veevaert and Jay Cohen.
Veevaert spent the past eight years running Microsoft's lucrative Xbox 360 franchise where he was executive producer for Halo 3. According to a press release, Veevaert also oversaw Microsoft's relationship with Epic Games and brought the Gears of War franchise to the company. Cohen has headed Ubisoft's North American operations for the past decade, overseeing the launch of games like Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.
The original 2007 announcement said Bruckheimer would be able to develop "whatever games the partnership dreams up." Today's release added a few more specifics. MTV will act as publisher for Jerry Bruckheimer Games, offering production, distribution and marketing support. In addition, MTV Games will use its broadcast and digital platforms, including CMT, MTV, Spike and VH1, to support the release of games through the studio, though it was unclear whether those are pure marketing collaborations or involve some kind of revenue-share.
Photo Credit: Reuters
By Rory Maher