Apple Hires Former IGN Editor to Curate App Store Games

IGN editor Matt Casamassima announced recently that he's joining Apple's App Store team, where he'll work on managing the gaming content that is presented to customers through iTunes.

Casamassima is well known in gaming circles for his work with entertainment heavyweight IGN, a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, where he spent twelve years covering primarily Nintendo platforms, of which he is a self-admitted "huge fan."

In a post on his personal blog, he explains that he will take on a new position at Apple, which he calls the "one company that could entice me away from covering Mario and Zelda." His post is somewhat vague on exactly what he'll be doing there--he describes the position as "global editorial games manager, App Store," which likely deals with curating the gaming content in the company's App Store: managing features like Staff Picks, featured apps, and the "What's Hot" lists.

Casamassima's post, however, is also interesting for the simple fact that it exists--Apple is notoriously secretive not only about its products, but also about its staff (with the exception of a few key executives and some of its evangelists whose job is to be out and about talking with developers). And, although the gaming expert has made it a point to tell his blog readers that he will continue to post in the future, I wouldn't exactly get up your hopes that we're about to see behind the App Store's curtain.

[via Gamasutra]