Infinium Labs to move to Seattle; Bachus named as CEO

Former Microsoft executive Kevin Bachus has been named as the new CEO of Infinium Labs, creators of the Phantom Game Service, as part of a major restructuring of the firm which will see it moving its headquarters to Seattle.

Bachus - one of the original architects of the Xbox project at Microsoft - has been acting as COO and president of the controversial company since December 2003, and will now be appointed to the firm's board of directors as well as taking on the CEO role.

Former CEO Tim Roberts will remain with the company as a member of its board of directors.

"Infinium Labs is entering a new phase where it must remain tightly focused on the nuts and bolts of bringing our service to market," commented Roberts in an official statement. "While the company has accomplished a tremendous amount already, the Board saw the need for a major change that would consolidate operations and reinvigorate the organisation."

The current official line from the company is that the long-delayed Phantom Game Service, a broadband games on demand system feeding a dedicated PC hardware based console called the Phantom Game Receiver, will launch in late 2005.

However, senior executives at the firm have privately hinted that a 2006 date is now the real target - with revised plans, as well as a new round of funding, expected to be announced in the coming weeks.