Microsoft today announced the appointment of Daniel Maher as Xbox LIVE® Editor for Europe. He joins from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s International Software Development team. His appointment is effective immediately.

Maher will be responsible for the editorial and production of the various European versions of Inside Xbox, the daily news magazine on Xbox LIVE. A key part of his role is to establish Inside Xbox as an entertaining and informative new media, providing a diverse range of programming that can be accessed directly by the Xbox 360 community on a daily basis.

Taking advantage of its unique positioning within Xbox LIVE, Inside Xbox will bring all the latest Xbox news and events direct to the living room, including information and footage of the hottest games, music and movie content available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, as well as up-to-the-minute video coverage from gaming and entertainment events around the world. The service currently reaches every Gold and Silver Xbox LIVE member in the UK, US, Canada and Japan, and is planned to roll out progressively across the rest of Western Europe in mid 2008.

Maher was recognised as one of the 30 most important people in the industry aged under 30 by MCV magazine in 2007 after his successes at SCEE’s International Software Development team. He joined SCEE straight out of university in 2001, where he worked as a content producer on PlayStation.com for four years before moving to SCEE’s International Software Development team. There he worked as European Producer on titles such as Tekken: Dark Resurrection, Patapon and God of War II, the latter of which he accepted two BAFTAs for on behalf of the development team.

“Daniel’s background makes him inimitably qualified for the exciting plan of rolling out ‘Inside Xbox’ across Europe,” said Robin Truchy, Director, Xbox LIVE Europe, Microsoft Entertainment and Devices. “He joins at a time when Xbox LIVE is becoming increasingly important as we look to provide excellent editorial and on-demand HD content across Europe.”

“The opportunity to play a key part in generating exclusive Xbox LIVE editorial content and helping to develop a strategy for the roll-out of Inside Xbox across Europe is a thrilling prospect on both a professional and personal level,” said Maher. “I am eager to build upon Xbox LIVE’s status as the world’s best and most innovative platform for digitally distributed content.”