Former Metal Gear Solid 5 Engine Lead Joins Bandai Namco

Alongside its big Jump Festa news today, Bandai Namco has announced that it's hired former Fox Engine lead for Konami Julien Merceron as its new worldwide technology director. In his new role at Bandai Namco, Merceron will be responsible for "championing and pursuing the development of core technologies for content and production pipelines for various platforms," the publisher said in a statement.

The publisher didn't name any specific projects that Merceron would be working on.

In his own statement, Bandai Namco CEO Hajime Nakatani said he he's happy to welcome Merceron to the team during "such revolutionary times" for the tech and gaming worlds.

"I am very happy to welcome Mr. Merceron as part of Bandai Namco Studios. The studio will continue to accelerate its efforts worldwide," he said. "In line with the evolution of information-communication technology, innovative services through VR/AR/IoT are being created, and we are facing a chance to create a lifestyle and entertainment that has never been imagined. In such revolutionary times, in order to create the best product for the world, we would like to evolve the studio together with Mr. Merceron."

Merceron said he is looking forward to the opportunity to work with the team and "accelerate growth, innovation, and creativity," noting that these efforts won't be limited to games alone.

"Working with so many experienced people and friends and focusing on a wider range of entertainment forms is the chance of a lifetime," he said.

Merceron has worked at a number of big-name companies in high-level technology positions, including Konami, Square Enix, and Ubisoft. He left Konami in September 2015.

Under Merceron's watch, Konami developed Fox Engine in-house, and has gone to use it for the development of recently released titles including Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and PES 2016.