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Google's looking for a games product manager

Move follows appointment of developer advocate

Google's looking for a games product manager
Momentum to take games more seriously seems to be building within Google, with the firm looking for a product management leader for its newly revealed games division.

The news has come in the form of a job posting – naturally published on Google's own careers site - which appears to lean towards the executive rather than the creative side of the business.

Opportunities for all

Google says it is looking for a leader who will be "responsible for developing Google's games commerce product strategy" and who will be able to "identify market opportunities and define product vision and strategy".

Its search follows the appointment of Mark DeLoura as developer advocate with Google's games department last month.

An industry veteran, his move was high profile, with DeLoura having previously worked at Ubisoft and Sony.

Publishing power?

At the time, DeLoura told Gamasutra that his appointment at Google marked a shift in the company's attitude towards games, stating that the firm "recognise(s) the growing importance of games as a medium", with his own role focusing on making it "easier for developers to express themselves and share the experience they create".

As such, both new roles seem to suggest Google could be considering some sort of move into publishing – perhaps across both Android and Chrome - technologies that will be spread across smartphones, netbooks and tablets.

Indeed, the posting requires experience of building an "online gaming business both on the web and on mobile devices" as a requirement.

With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.