Many see the Seattle video games industry as a bright spot in the grim economy, benefitting as people seek out more home entertainment. Warner Bros. apparently thinks so too. The entertainment giant has created a new general manager position overseeing its Seattle area studios, and has appointed Laura Fryer, a veteran of Microsoft Games Studios, to fill it. Fryer will oversee Warner Bros.' growing games operations in the region, including Snowblind Studios, which it acquired last week.

Bothell-based Snowblind, founded in 1997, has about 80 employees and specializes in action and fantasy-based games (titles include Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath and Justice League Heroes). Warner Bros also owns Monolith Productions, in Kirkland, which it acquired in 2004. Monolith, which has 106 employees, just put out F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, a sequel to its hit game F.E.A.R.

Fryer held a variety of positions at Microsoft, including executive producer of Microsoft Games Studios, where she oversaw shipping games for Xbox and Windows including "Gears of War 2." She was one of the first members of Microsoft Games Studios in 1995 and was also director of the Xbox Advanced Technology Group.

Warner Bros.' growing presence in Seattle comes as amid record growth for video game industry. My colleague Todd Bishop reported recently that the video game industry finished 2008 in record style, topping $5 billion in U.S. sales of hardware, software and accessories in December. Warner Bros. is a division of media giant Time Warner.