Gosen quits I-play as Oberon continues restructure

David Gosen, CEO of mobile games publisher I-play, has stepped down from his position, GamesIndustry.biz can reveal.

I-play was acquired by casual games specialist Oberon Media last May, with the company adding the mobile portfolio to its existing offerings in online and TV gaming.

"We have made tremendous progress in the first phase of integration of the mobile business into Oberon and are now moving to the second phase," said Oberon CEO Tomer Ben-kiki in an email to staff.

"The changes we are making over the next month as we fully integrate the I-play business will, I believe, enable us to achieve our goals and set us well on the path to building the most successful casual games company in the sector.

"As a result David Gosen is stepping down from I-play as CEO and leaving the business effective immediately."

Former Microsoft exec Don Ryan, senior vice president of publishing at Oberon, will take responsibility forthe company's mobile publishing activities moving forward.

Before joining I-play, Gosen was managing director for Nintendo Europe, where he successfully oversaw the launch of the GameBoy Advance SP and GameCube in the territory.

In 2004 he quit Nintendo to join Digital Bridges, which rebranded as I-play a year later.

In the same email to staff, Ben-kiki also said that more changes to the I-play business could be expected over the coming months.

"As a business we remain focused on achieving our goal of profitably through operational excellence. The changes we are making over the next month as we fully integrate the I-play business will, I believe, enable us to achieve our goals and set us well on the path to building the most successful casual games company in the sector," he said.