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Outspark Appoints EA Veteran Mahoney As CEO
by Eric Caoili [PC]
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September 8, 2009
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MMO game publisher Outspark (Project Powder, Fiesta Online) appointed Owen Mahoney, formerly senior vice president of corporate and business development at Electronic Arts, as its new CEO, tasking the industry veteran with leading the company's efforts to expand its free-to-play audience beyond North America.
Outspark's previous and founding chief executive Susan Choe will stay with the company as chairman of the Board, and will work with Outspark's game developer partners. "With Owen`s leadership and business experience in the global gaming industry, Outspark will evolve as a leading global game industry player," says Choe.
During his nine-year tenure at Electronic Arts, Mahoney managed the giant publisher's worldwide corporate development activities, such as acquisitions, equity investments, and partnerships. Prior to that, he held executive positions at online and software companies in the U.S. and Asia, such as PointCast and Claris Japan.
Since launching in 2007, Outspark has picked up a global registered user base of more than 4.7 million, receiving 5.4 million unique visitors a month. Though its largest free-to-play MMO audience is in North America, the company says it has growing communities in Europe and in the Pacific Rim -- communities that Mahoney has been brought in to help grow further.
The appointment comes only two months after Outspark revealed it secured $8.3 million in Series C funding, which will go towards the company's partnerships centered on its recently launched Outspark Publishing Platform, which allows others to publish games online using Outspark's proprietary tools, which facilitate such things as user acquisition and tracking, microtransactions and more.
"Having the opportunity to build on Susan's success is a great privilege and I'm honored by the board's endorsement," says Owen Mahoney. "Outspark appeals to a vast global user base and to everyone who wants to establish a connection with gamers around the world in real time."
"Outspark`s game publishing platform and portal also offer fantastic opportunities to both content developers and game publishers, and I look forward to providing value for Outspark, our loyal user base, investors and our great staff."
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