Sony head of game software development to resign

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp said on Monday Phil Harrison, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, the game software development arm of Sony's videogame division, will resign on February 29.

Kazuo Hirai, Chief Executive of Sony's game operations, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), will assume the responsibilities in addition to his current role.

Harrison is leaving the firm after 15 years to tackle new challenges in the video game industry, but nothing concrete has been set, an SCE spokesman said.

Creating strong game software is important for Sony, which has seen its PlayStation 3 game console lag far behind Nintendo Co Ltd's Wii in sales due to high prices and scarcity of must-have game titles.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Erica Billingham)