Outspark Appoints Niranjan Nagar as Chief of Game Operations

SAN FRANCISCO -

- Seasoned Industry Executive Brings Over 15 Years Experience To Rapidly Growing Freemium Gaming Company

Outspark, the premier North American publisher for free-to-play massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, today announced the appointment of Niranjan Nagar as Chief of Game Operations. Mr. Nagar will direct Outspark’s strategic technology and product development, including partner integrations and worldwide publishing of free-to-play games.

In his new role, Mr. Nagar will focus on the development of Outspark’s offerings in the online gaming space, driving an industry-wide movement toward freemium game development, as well as building infrastructure programs for massively-connected game play. Mr. Nagar will continue to increase market share by building on Outspark’s reputation as an industry innovator in publishing freemium games. Outspark has established a rapidly growing community in North America and Europe where free-to-play games have attracted large audiences for many years. Currently, Outspark has 1.8 million unique users, and since the company launched in 2007, traffic to Outspark has grown to 6.8 million unique visitors a month.

“Niranjan’s deep technology and management expertise as well as his track record with high-growth companies make him an excellent fit for Outspark as we focus on quickly expanding our global footprint,” said Owen Mahoney, CEO of Outspark. “His proven ability to build fast-moving teams is invaluable and accelerates our efforts to further establish Outspark as the premium publisher of free-to-play online games in North America and Europe.”

Mr. Nagar brings more than 15 years experience in driving technology and business strategy for a variety of companies. Prior to joining Outspark, he was the Vice President of The Sims Internet Group at Electronic Arts (EA) where he was responsible for growing online revenue and player community worldwide for The Sims 2 and The Sims 3. Prior to joining EA, Niranjan was a co-founder of SingShot Media which was acquired by EA in 2007. He was also a key executive at Listen.com & RealNetworks and led the development of Rhapsody, an innovative and popular online digital music service. Mr. Nagar holds a M.S. in Computer Science from Drexel University and a B.S. in Computer Science from Karnatak University in India. He is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

“The game market continues to see tremendous growth, especially as players around the world transition to online and free-to-play models,” said Mr. Nagar. “Outspark is a key player in pioneering this exciting area and the combination of great products and great execution are what enables us to deliver hits in the North American and European markets and capitalize on future market opportunities.”

Outspark has enjoyed rapid growth with a unique business model that has created a flourishing online community around the concept of engaging social events, in-game and around-game networking, user-generated content and a personalized user experience. Outspark currently offers five mid-casual MMO games with more titles being launched this year.

About Outspark:

Outspark is a leading entertainment services company that publishes and operates engaging online multiplayer games. Featuring a portfolio of immersive free-to-play games and related content, the company is building an online destination where members come for the games and stay for the community. Outspark has partnered with numerous leaders in the gaming space, including corporate partners like EA, urban lifestyle brand Rocawear and technology companies like YouTube, Vivox, Meebo and Dyyno, all assisting in making the Outspark virtual playground the ultimate gaming and social destination. Backed by Tencent, Altos Ventures and DCM, Outspark is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif., with a subsidiary office in Seoul, Korea. For more information, visit www.outspark.com.

Source: Outspark

Tracie Snitker, +1-209-586-1495, ext. 104, tracie at reverbinc.com, or Abby Oliva, +1-209-586-1495, ext. 106, abby at reverbinc.com, both of Reverb Communications for Outspark