Just following Electronic Arts' announcement that its chief operating officer, John Pleasants, would be leaving the company to be replaced by former Microsoft exec John Schappert, venture-backed social game developer Playdom reveals Pleasants will become its new CEO. Playdom co-founder and current CEO Dan Yue, who'll continue contributing to product strategy and game development as chief product officer, says Pleasants was an ideal choice, citing both his experience in operations and his "vision for the future of social gaming." As part of his overall operations role at EA, Pleasants has experience overseeing businesses like the company's casual Pogo portal, its social networking initiatives and its mobile games biz. "Online gaming is the fastest-growing sector of the gaming industry, and social gaming, in particular, is transforming the way people play and experience games,' said Pleasants. Playdom, which claims more than 20 million monthly active users playings its online games on a number of social networks, runs games such as as Mobsters on MySpace and Facebook.