Former Microsoft corporate vice president Phil Harrison has joined Google as its new vice president and general manager.

Harrison announced the move via Twitter, where he stated he would relocate to California for the role. Reuters later confirmed that he will be reporting to Google senior vice president of hardware Rick Osterloh.

There are no other details available about why Harrison has joined the company or what he will be working on. Osterloh's division designs Google's hardware, such as its Pixel phone and Daydream VR headsets, so Harrison will likely be focusing his efforts on these areas.

Experienced

Harrison is best known for his 15-year stint at Sony, where he became president of SCE Worldwide Studios in September 1992. He has also been a member of the board at Atari and is currently a governor for the UK's National Film & Television School.

His hiring could indicate that Google is looking to push its mixed reality products, and gaming as a part of that, to the market with an eye on a much bigger impact than it has in the past with tech like the Google Daydream.

Previously, Harrison has been a major figure in the launch of games consoles such as Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox One.

Google has made major investments in its hardware in the past months. In September 2017 it acquired a number of staff at HTC who worked on the Pixel phone for $1.1 billion.

Further investment and acquisitions by Google have been uncovered in 2018, including an undisclosed investment in China-focused streaming firm Chushou. It also acquired mobile audio tech studio Redux in August 2017, a deal which remained largely secretive until January 2018.