It seemed for a while that once-social-network, now online gaming destination hi5 was down for the count. At the end of March of this year it was announced that the company had failed to secure a round of funding, which was then followed by a round of layoffs. These layoffs essentially left hi5 with only it’s entertainment, gaming and microtransactions unit left in tact. By the end of the month, hi5 was already beginning it’s resurgence, when they announced that industry veteran Bill Gossman was taking over as CEO, shortly after announcing a deal with Mochi Media. And now, almost 9 months to date later, hi5 has scored another major player: Alex St. John. St. John will be now filling the President and Chief Technology Officer role at hi5.
St. John’s new role at hi5 will be to primarily focus on product development, technology, network operations and audience acquisition. In other words, St. John has been brought in to add his expertise to hi5’s currently operating business model – social gaming and entertainment.
“We are very excited to add a gaming visionary like Alex to the hi5 team as we continue our evolution into becoming a dominant, next-generation social entertainment platform,” said Bill Gossman, CEO, hi5. “Alex’s background is a perfect fit for moving the company forward. His extensive experience and leadership in gaming platforms, traffic optimization, and game monetization make him a vital addition to the hi5 team.”
Prior to joining hi5, St. John founded currently operational WildTangent, which he grew to the world’s largest privately held gaming destination, garnering some 30 million unique monthly visitors. And if microtransaction based revenue is what hi5 is banking on, St. John is worth his weight in gold. While with WildTangent, St. John was involved with several revenue generators, least of which was the implementation of WildCoins, as well as an advertising partnership with WPP, offering microcurrency to Fortune 500 brands.
St. John’s most notable previous position is his work with Microsoft. He was a leading player in developing the now practically standard DirectX media architecture. This suite of tools including 2D and 3D graphics, sound, video, multiplayer gaming and input control are essentially the basis for the current Mixrosoft Xbox gaming OS. However, it was his role as Group Manager for Windows Media Strategy and Marketing at Microsoft that firmly placed DirectX as THE architecture of choice for games developers.
“The next wave of innovation and differentiation in gaming is happening in social gaming and hi5 is at the forefront of this sea change,” said St. John. “I’ve long said that the current generation of game consoles will be the last and that the future of the game business will be online. I’m thrilled to be joining a company that has the team, technology and vision to lead that transition.”
Tags: Alex St John, Bill Gossman, hi5, microtransaction, mochi media
