NCsoft lost two major people today, as both Jeff Strain and David Reid have left their positions at NCsoft West, according to statements provided to MMORPG.com. Strain is known for co-founding ArenaNet and launching Guild Wars, and he was previously the Lead Programmer for Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. He also contributed to Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft III.
Strain had been serving as president of product development and was a significant creative force at the company. “With a successful history creating MMORPG games, NCsoft has made an indelible mark on the games industry. Last year, the South Korea-based NCsoft created a division to follow a vision of bringing AAA MMOs to the West called NCsoft West. This organization was formed as part of NCsoft’s ongoing vision to be the premier global MMO publisher in the world. With that vision, change in a growth industry is inevitable. NCsoft West announces the departure of Jeff Strain, President of Product Development, who has chosen to leave NCsoft under amicable terms and NCsoft wishes him the best in his new endeavor," said a spokesperson.
"This does not change our plans or negatively impact our upcoming launch of Aion, and NCsoft remains very excited about the game’s launch on September 22nd in the U.S. and September 25th in Europe. These changes do not influence any other teams, development schedules or other launches.”
As for Reid, he had been serving as president of publishing and helped to create NCsoft West. He previously worked at GameTap and before that at Microsoft where he helped with marketing efforts during the Xbox 360 launch.
The spokesperson commented, “In an unrelated and separate event, David Reid is no longer with the company. David joined NCsoft in early 2008 as vice president of marketing and helped in the formation of NCsoft West and the relocation of our headquarters to Seattle. David brought passion and talent to our organization, and he will be missed.”
When you add these departures to the Garriott brothers, NCsoft has lost some very key people of late.
