Howard Phillips pulls up Chair

Since being acquired by Epic Games last May, Utah-based developer Chair Entertainment Group has kept a low profile. While the company's current project remains unannounced, it has returned to headlines with today's announcement that it has appointed industry veteran Howard Phillips as its studio director.

A creative director at Nintendo until leaving the company in 1991, Phillips was one of the first game-industry executives to gain widespread notoriety among gamers. Part of the reason for Phillips' familiarity was his presence in the pages of Nintendo Power as one-half of the magazine's comic strip duo, Howard & Nester. Since leaving Nintendo, Phillips has held a variety of positions with Microsoft, Splash Studios, Absolute Entertainment, THQ, and LucasFilm Games.

As for Chair, the developer is best known for the Unreal Engine 3-powered Xbox Live Arcade shooter Undertow. The studio has also forged close ties with Orson Scott Card, having licensed the gaming adaptation rights to the sci-fi author's classic Ender's Game. Chair also worked with Card on a new property, Empire, which became a New York Times best-seller.