Microsoft announces new Euro Xbox team appointments

A number of new appointments to key positions within Microsoft's European Xbox team have been announced by the company, with three new faces joining the management team while a number of promotions have reshuffled the EMEA marketing team.

Industry veteran Stefan Lampinen is joining the company as EMEA Sales Director, covering all Xbox hardware, software and related products. Coming from a background at Nokia's games unit and Electronic Arts, Lampinen replaces Owen Roberts, who has moved into a role as senior director of sales in the company's Redmond HQ.

Another former EA executive, Francisco Arteche, has been appointed as senior regional director for the Central and Southern European region; while former Apple advertising manager Francois Ruault has joined as director of the French territory.

"I am very pleased to have Stefan, Francisco and Francois joining our EMEA team," enthused the Home and Entertainment Division's EMEA vice president, Chris Lewis. "The regional team are incredibly important to the success of the Xbox business and we welcome these three talented individuals to an exceptionally strong group of people, working to continue and increase our success in the region."

Meanwhile, in the marketing department, former EMEA head of customer relationship marketing Dom McBrien has been promoted to head of online marketing, while Beatriz Diaz has been placed in charge of Xbox.com, reporting directly to McBrien.

Last but by no means least, Michele Marchand moves over from the UK subsidiary to join the Xbox EMEA PR and Events team as an events manager, and will work on events including the FIFA Interactive World Cup and the X0 event series.