Newsbrief: Magi.com, the social game network founded by former WildTangent and Hi5 head Alex St. John, has shut down just six months after the company opened and three months after the service launched its beta.
St. John said the platform was able to develop a promising userbase during its short time in operation, but the California-based startup was unable to raise enough money to keep it going, according to a report from Inside Social Games.
The outspoken executive previously headed social game network Hi5 for two years before Tagged purchased the company's assets -- but not its staff -- last December. He argued that Magi.com had an advantage over Hi5, as the service was built as a "pure game site" from the beginning, instead of a real identity social network.
Magi.com employed around 20 to 30 people, and St. John claims that the entire development team received both severance pay and paid time off, as management attempts to find new positions for the laid off workers.
That's a shame. The choice of name is a bit curious though - it sounds immediately fantasy-fiction focussed, i'm surprised they did not go with something more neutral. More experiments will probably follow before the industry hits on the perfect blend of social network and game service (or alternatively decides Xbox Live is as good as it gets).
