Apple recruits Xbox marketing manager as part of growing gaming initiative

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014


Apple has landed another key hire to help drive its ongoing encroachment on the handheld gaming sector, recently luring one of Microsoft's top Xbox product managers to help head its App Store Marketing division.



In an update to his spotted by several European publications, Microsoft's marketing manager for Xbox UK and head of product marketing for all of Microsoft UK, Robin Burrowes, reveals he's jumped ship for Apple, where he's been hired to help grow Europe's App Store marketing segment.



Burrowes tenure at Microsoft saw him work on Xbox for roughly seven years, where he was most recently responsible for all product, business and marketing management of Xbox LIVE in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.



For Apple, he's the latest in a series of high-profile British gaming recruits, following the hire of Nintendo's public relation's chief Robert Saunders last year, as well as Nick Grange -- who also at one point ran public relations for Xbox, as well as for gaming heavyweights Activision and Electronics Arts.



Along with their Android counterparts, iOS devices have emerged as a new frontier for game developers, with one research firm indicating that the two platforms saw their combined share of U.S.-based game software revenue rise more than threefold from just 19% in 2009 to an estimated 58% by the end of last year.



Their success has come at the expense of incumbents Nintendo and Sony, who saw their respective share of software sales slip from 70% to 36% and 11% to 6%, respectively, over the same period.











The situation faced by Nintendo and Sony shows signs of worsening this year, with Sony recently reporting a staggering loss of $1.2 billion for the December quarter shortly after Nintendo reported its first ever operating loss ($575 million) in its corporate history.



[ View article on AppleInsider ]

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    i don't know how sony or nintendo can sleep at night after looking at those graphs. they better make some serious changes, fast.
  • Reply 2 of 20
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    But but ... No one would ever use an Apple product for gaming! /sarcasm



    What isn the iOS / Android split?
  • Reply 3 of 20
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    But but ... No one would ever use an Apple product for gaming! /sarcasm



    What isn the iOS / Android split?



    Previous reports show that when it comes to app revenues, iOS clobbers Android. However, that's misleading because it doesn't include in-app revenues for either platform, so breaking down the actual numbers would be tough.



    Come to think of it, I'll be the above graph also doesn't include in-app revenues.
  • Reply 4 of 20
    Hiring Microsoft executives? A company that has done nothing right for years? Has no blockbuster products. Is alive only because of legacy products like Office and Windows?



    Also, hiring Dixons CEO John Browett as SVP of Retail. Just ask Dixon's customers. The stores are crap. Like the Kmart of the UK.



    Better keep an eye on Cook. He just might tank Apple.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    So since they agreed to stop poaching Google, they poach MS??? Lol!!!

    ...

    But wouldn't an MS exec be a downgrade? Just me thinking...
  • Reply 6 of 20
    The iPad and iPods are not computer's in the traditional sense so the real IOS competition is in similar devices from the likes of Sony and Nintendo.



    Size is certainly deceptive and calling the iPad a computer certainly does attract controversy. If we define a computer in the consumer sense then the Vita, Xbox and PS3 and DS are likewise.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AjbDtc826 View Post


    So since they agreed to stop poaching Google, they poach MS??? Lol!!!

    ...

    But wouldn't an MS exec be a downgrade? Just me thinking...



    To your last point, seemingly not ...
  • Reply 8 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by easy288 View Post


    Hiring Microsoft executives? A company that has done nothing right for years? Has no blockbuster products. Is alive only because of legacy products like Office and Windows?



    Also, hiring Dixons CEO John Browett as SVP of Retail. Just ask Dixon's customers. The stores are crap. Like the Kmart of the UK.



    Better keep an eye on Cook. He just might tank Apple.



    easy288, you are incredibly uninformed when it comes to gaming. The Xbox brand is considered a "blockbuster product", which is very much alive and well. Actually, their gaming division is one of the few things Microsoft can boast about these days:



    http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/3..._Year_2011.php



    If Apple is indeed poaching top talent from the industry, the old behemoths have a lot to worry about. Once you become irrelevant, you're history (SEGA).



    My personal opinion is that Nintendo should get with the times. Standalone gaming devices may have been OK in the mid-2000's, but who wants to carry around a Nintendo 3DS, a cell phone, and an iPad? I wonder who the first to go will be ...
  • Reply 9 of 20
    ifailifail Posts: 463member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by OllieWallieWhiskers View Post


    i don't know how sony or nintendo can sleep at night after looking at those graphs. they better make some serious changes, fast.



    What exactly do you want them to do? Smartphones are gaining pace EXTREMELY fast. Nintendo/Sony cannot compete on sheer scale, 90+ Million devices (were talking US only) that moves an additional 20+ million units every quarter.



    If iOS/Android couldn't make more revenue with nearly 20x the active install base of the 3DS and over 100k+ games, well something is definitely wrong.



    In all honesty i expect these numbers to widen still even though Nintendo has a great catalogue of games coming for 2012, contrast to which it had all of 4 decent titles for 2011. You simply cant beat sheer numbers no matter what you do, especially when you have 2 complete opposite sides of the spectrum for gaming
  • Reply 10 of 20
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by easy288 View Post


    Hiring Microsoft executives? A company that has done nothing right for years? Has no blockbuster products. Is alive only because of legacy products like Office and Windows?



    Also, hiring Dixons CEO John Browett as SVP of Retail. Just ask Dixon's customers. The stores are crap. Like the Kmart of the UK.



    Better keep an eye on Cook. He just might tank Apple.



    Now Apple is doomed. LOL!!!
  • Reply 11 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by easy288 View Post


    Hiring Microsoft executives? A company that has done nothing right for years? Has no blockbuster products. Is alive only because of legacy products like Office and Windows?



    Also, hiring Dixons CEO John Browett as SVP of Retail. Just ask Dixon's customers. The stores are crap. Like the Kmart of the UK.



    Better keep an eye on Cook. He just might tank Apple.



    Way to bravely panic...



    Seems to me Apple is shoring up their Apple Store strategy for Europe. I'm sure they have a better idea about where they need to pour their resources than you or I do.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    Of course, now he's an EX-XBox manager.
  • Reply 13 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by easy288 View Post


    Hiring Microsoft executives? A company that has done nothing right for years? Has no blockbuster products. Is alive only because of legacy products like Office and Windows?



    Also, hiring Dixons CEO John Browett as SVP of Retail. Just ask Dixon's customers. The stores are crap. Like the Kmart of the UK.



    Better keep an eye on Cook. He just might tank Apple.



    XBox has been very successful for Microsoft and is a blockbuster product and contributes quite a bit to Microsoft's coffers.
  • Reply 14 of 20
    dunksdunks Posts: 1,254member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by OllieWallieWhiskers View Post


    i don't know how sony or nintendo can sleep at night after looking at those graphs. they better make some serious changes, fast.



    Admitedly the last two graphs above were an "awkward" period for Nintendo with a series of lukewarm product launches and almost zero first party software for an ailing home console. It's probably a lot to do with install base and the large number of casual gamers Nintendo courted with the wii and DS lite that no longer see the value now that there are free or 99c apps on a iOS device they probably own anyway.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PBRSTREETG View Post


    XBox has been very successful for Microsoft and is a blockbuster product and contributes quite a bit to Microsoft's coffers.



    Very true. The Xbox has held it's own, if not pulled ahead in the game console wars. I'm an admitted Wii and PS3 fan, but I'll give MS props with the Xbox. The Kinect has the Wii beat, controllers down, and if it had a BR player, it would strangle the PS3 out of the market.
  • Reply 16 of 20
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    Is there some kind of evil master plan behind the hiring of all these Brits lately?
  • Reply 17 of 20
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Ha Ha Ha "handheld gaming?" Sure, that's relevant but try iPad3/4 console-busting gaming! BRING. IT. ON.



    Xbox360 is about the only thing MS is doing right, and even then there's space for improvement. I like my Xbox360 but boy, iPad4 is so close to annihilating it and PS3, etc.



    The Xbox360 which has arguably the best console graphics does most games at only 1280x720 and relies on an impressive hardware upscaler to make 1920x1080p look good (what I call the "console" look). Most games have 0 antialiasing. Physics are there but fairly rudimentary.



    The iPad4 CPU/GPU should be able to outdo the Xbox360 easily, and at that time I don't forsee a cost-effective, rich-ecosystem, let alone portable, Xbox720.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    The Dixon's hire, I don't know. But any decent hire from Xbox360, I support. The irony is that Xbox360 is Microsoft's best and only consumer success story post-iPhone, due to it's locked-down, closed ecosystem.



    Besides that I don't know how but everything Xbox360 is vastly different to the rest of Microsoft. It's fun, friendly, functional, good game catalog, graphics well ahead of PS3 IMO, good online experience, great offline fallback (compared to the nightmare that is PC and Steam sometimes), and more.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by F1Ferrari View Post


    Very true. The Xbox has held it's own, if not pulled ahead in the game console wars. I'm an admitted Wii and PS3 fan, but I'll give MS props with the Xbox. The Kinect has the Wii beat, controllers down, and if it had a BR player, it would strangle the PS3 out of the market.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PBRSTREETG View Post


    XBox has been very successful for Microsoft and is a blockbuster product and contributes quite a bit to Microsoft's coffers.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by reese411 View Post


    easy288, you are incredibly uninformed when it comes to gaming. The Xbox brand is considered a "blockbuster product", which is very much alive and well. Actually, their gaming division is one of the few things Microsoft can boast about these days:



    http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/3..._Year_2011.php



    If Apple is indeed poaching top talent from the industry, the old behemoths have a lot to worry about. Once you become irrelevant, you're history (SEGA).



    My personal opinion is that Nintendo should get with the times. Standalone gaming devices may have been OK in the mid-2000's, but who wants to carry around a Nintendo 3DS, a cell phone, and an iPad? I wonder who the first to go will be ...



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AjbDtc826 View Post


    So since they agreed to stop poaching Google, they poach MS??? Lol!!!

    ...

    But wouldn't an MS exec be a downgrade? Just me thinking...



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by easy288 View Post


    Hiring Microsoft executives? A company that has done nothing right for years? Has no blockbuster products. Is alive only because of legacy products like Office and Windows?



    Also, hiring Dixons CEO John Browett as SVP of Retail. Just ask Dixon's customers. The stores are crap. Like the Kmart of the UK.



    Better keep an eye on Cook. He just might tank Apple.



  • Reply 19 of 20
    dunksdunks Posts: 1,254member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by F1Ferrari View Post


    The Kinect has the Wii beat, controllers down, and if it had a BR player, it would strangle the PS3 out of the market.



    I feel the Kinect is crippled by too much latency to be useful. At the moment it works for dancing games that can disguise the delay between your movements and the position being registered. But for real time action games it's pants. USB 3 or thunderbolt kinect could improve data throughput and latency for finer and more responsive control.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    Ha Ha Ha "handheld gaming?" Sure, that's relevant but try iPad3/4 console-busting gaming! BRING. IT. ON.



    Xbox360 is about the only thing MS is doing right, and even then there's space for improvement. I like my Xbox360 but boy, iPad4 is so close to annihilating it and PS3, etc.



    The Xbox360 which has arguably the best console graphics does most games at only 1280x720 and relies on an impressive hardware upscaler to make 1920x1080p look good (what I call the "console" look). Most games have 0 antialiasing. Physics are there but fairly rudimentary.



    The iPad4 CPU/GPU should be able to outdo the Xbox360 easily, and at that time I don't forsee a cost-effective, rich-ecosystem, let alone portable, Xbox720.



    Do you really see the Ipad as serious competition for the Xbox / PS3? I don't.
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