Capcom promotes former Atari vet as new COO

Officials at Capcom have announced that company exec Mark Beaumont has been handed the reigns as the publisher and developer's new chief operating officer for both North America and Europe. The promotion, which was effective as of April 1, is the second in as many years for Beaumont, who first joined the company in 2005 before being elevated to the position of executive VP and officer two years later.

Beaumont has more than 25 years of industry service to his credit dating back to the original incarnation of Atari. In his new role, the exec's responsibilities will include "growing and managing" Capcom's eye for Western development and licensing. It's a role that's likely to keep the man up to his eyeballs in paperwork given company exec's recent prediction that Capcom could "acquire a western studio in the next two years."