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Jay Cohen answers 10 Questions from the Academy

by Joystiq Staff { Nov 21st 2009 at 1:00AM }

Introducing 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community.

Jay Cohen is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences where he serves as chairman of its board directors. Cohen left Ubisoft earlier this year, after serving as the company's North American vice president of publishing, and now works for Jerry Bruckheimer Games.

AIAS: How do you measure success?
Jay Cohen: Review scores and unit sales!

What's your favorite part of game development?
Sitting around the table and seeing a spark of an idea ignite into creative wildfire that rallies the team to go the extra mile. Then, seeing that idea implemented into the game and having it actually work as imagined!

Continued →

Jerry Bruckheimer Games explodes onto scene, Halo 3 exec on board

by Jason Dobson { May 12th 2009 at 7:30AM }

MTV and Hollywood movie baron Jerry Bruckheimer made their union official this morning, lifting the 17-month shroud of secrecy off their joint venture, oh-so-creatively dubbed Jerry Bruckheimer Games. The new studio will be steered by former Microsoft exec and Halo 3 executive producer, Jim Veevaert, as the company's president of production. Veevaert will share the wheel with Jay Cohen, who joined the studio in March, his role now revealed as the company's president of development.

What Cohen and company will be developing exactly, however, remains a mystery, with the studio saying only that it will create original IPs that "convey and reflect the high standards of entertainment value set by Jerry Bruckheimer." For fans of shaky cams and explosions, one thing's for certain -- finally there's a studio out there with your best interests at heart.

Rumor: Ubisoft exec takes job at MTV/Jerry Bruckheimer game venture

by Alexander Sliwinski { Mar 2nd 2009 at 7:30PM }

Jay Cohen, who recently left his position as North American VP of publishing at Ubisoft, is apparently taking the reigns of MTV and Jerry Bruckheimer's ever-gestating video game initiative. The Cut Scene reports that "numerous sources" have confirmed that Cohen has taken a job at the studio formed by the two media giants.

This is actually the first murmuring we've heard about the joint venture since it was announced 15 months ago. No word yet what the next step will be for the studio, but at least they've got a guy at the top who could make Bruckheimer's name mean to games what it does in movies and TV.

North American Ubisoft exec Jay Cohen departs

by Griffin McElroy { Mar 1st 2009 at 12:00PM }

Publisher Ubisoft recently confirmed that its North American vice-president of publishing, Jay Cohen, has left the company. He might not be among the most recognizable gaming industry luminaries in the nation, though he more or less served as Ubisoft's second-in-command in the Americas, taking responsibility for the company's content acquisitions, partnerships and strategic and financial planning. We sure hope he wasn't the only guy doing the "planning" for Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Nobody's quite sure why Cohen left his prestigious position at the company, or what his future plans regarding employment are, but considering the current state of the nation's expansive, widely accessible job market, it seems the world's totally his oyster.