Ian Curran worked for THQ for more than a decade. He took on various managerial roles and was eventually appointed as an Executive VP for THQ before their original closure. Curran also served as the CEO of Gioteck, an electronic accessories company. He’s now been appointed as Chief Operating Officer and President of Sega America.
Since the Sega and Atlus merger, Sega has been in a major upswing in recent years. With the success behind franchises such as Persona, Valkyria Chronicles, and Yakuza, the company has been in a state of amazing success and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down by any means.
During their press release today, Sega outlined Ian Curran’s new role, “Ian will be responsible for utilizing all resources available to maximize the profitability of the publishing and Sonic business units within the Americas and EMEA, serving also on the board of Atlus U.S.A., Inc. He will report directly to the CEO of SEGA West, Tatsuyuki Miyazaki and will work with employees in SEGA’s offices located in Irvine, Burbank and London.”
Along with the news of Mr. Curran’s promotion as Sega of America’s COO and Vice President, Atlus’ CEO and president Naoto Hiraoka and Tatsuyuki Miyazaki, respectively, have outlined their ambitious growth plans for Sega and opened up with high regards for the future with Mr. Curran’s newly appointed position.
Stating that they (Sega and Atlus) are still coming off the success of titles such as “Persona 5, Sonic Forces, Sonic Mania Plus, and the Yakuza series, and with so much more on the horizon, including Valkyria Chronicles 4, it is an incredible time to join the team. As part of the SEGA family, we are inheritors of an expansive body of work and opportunity which I plan to help reach its full potential,” Curran writes.
“We’ve been looking for someone to fill this role for some time, so we couldn’t be more pleased to have Ian join our operations as COO and President of SEGA of America. His many years of experience in video game publishing, leading, developing and transforming organizations, is a perfect fit for our long-term aspirations and will be invaluable as we look to expand our business,” said Naoto Hiraoka, CEO and President, Atlus U.S.A. Inc. and Senior Vice President, SEGA of America. “I look forward to working alongside Ian in our common goal to take our work in the Americas and EMEA to new heights as I prepare to focus on my new role.”
With titles such as the highly anticipated titles such as Yakuza 2 Kiwami and Valkyria Chronicles 4 quickly approach us, the future for Sega as a company looks amazing. Toss in the fact Atlus has gone into full development of Shin Megami Tensei V for the Nintendo Switch, we could certainly see Sega come out swinging harder than ever in the upcoming days ahead.
About the Writer(s):
Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook.