Midway appoints Spiess as new European MD

As Midway continues to expand in Europe with the recent opening of an office in Germany, the publisher has announced the appointment of Martin Spiess, formerly of Atari, as European managing director.

Spiess has more than 18 years' experience of videogames marketing, sales and management, having held positions at Crave and Virgin Interactive before joining Atari in the role of senior vice president, European marketing.

He will be based at Midway's London headquarters and will manage operations in all PAL territories, whilst overseeing the planned expansion of the company's direct distribution.

"Driving growth in the European territories is a major initiative for Midway," said president and CEO David F. Zucker.

"We consider ourselves very fortunate to have an experienced and talented industry veteran like Martin Spiess running our European operation. This new appointment will allow Midway to continue its strategy of becoming one of the industry's top publishers."

Spiess commented: "Midway has enormous potential for expansion in the European territory, and this is an opportunity to build one of the strongest sales, marketing and distribution companies in the industry.

"Midway is committed to working with the best talent in the industry and becoming a publishing force in Europe," he added.