Disney named Playdom CEO John Pleasants as co-president of Disney Interactive Media following the
departure last month of former division head Steve Wadsworth, Disney said over the weekend.
Serving as fellow co-president for the division is James Pitaro, who most recently was head of the media unit at Yahoo!. Disney appointed the two executives to lead the segment as the division posted $130 million in losses for the first nine months of the year -- it's Disney's only unprofitable division.
Pleasants came under the Disney umbrella only recently, as the company
acquired the social game maker and
Sorority Life developer Playdom for up to $763.2 million in July this year, an amount that includes $200 million in performance-based earn-outs.
It wasn't the first pricey online game move that Disney made in recent years. The company acquired kid-friendly social site Club Penguin in 2007 for $350 million. In July, Disney also acquired Tapulous, the social mobile game developer behind
Tap Tap Revenge music rhythm games on iOS devices.
Disney CEO Bob Iger
has expressed that the company will target more resources towards social gaming, a category that he recently said is "here to stay." Disney Interactive Studios develops console-based games including
Disney Epic Mickey, Tron: Evolution and
Guilty Party, but Iger said that the company is "reallocating" some investment in console games to social games.
"We see this as a growth area and we need people experienced in how to best operate them," Iger
told Bloomberg regarding the new executive appointments.
Pleasants will continue to oversee Playdom, and will also lead Club Penguin,
World of Cars Online, Tapulous and other initiatives in console, online and mobile games. Pitaro will run businesses including Disney Online and social media marketing agency DigiSynd.
