I-play appoints David Gosen as CEO
London, UK & San Mateo, CA - 13th March, 2006 - I-play, the mobile entertainment company, today announced the appointment of David Gosen as its Chief Executive Officer. David joined I-play, previously Digital Bridges, as COO in 2004 from Nintendo, Europe.
Over the last 18 months, David has driven the company's sales and publishing operations, cementing the company's position in Europe and driving the North American market, where in the last 12 months I-play has become one of the fastest growing mobile games providers. He inspired the concept of 'one thumb' gaming to broaden the appeal of mobile games and played a significant role both in the launch of the 'I-play' consumer brand and in securing powerful new strategic publishing relationships. In his time as acting CEO, David has delivered process efficiencies and consistent revenue growth, with the business entering 2006 from a position of operational profitability.
Commenting on the appointment Richard Eyre, Chairman of I-play said:
"David has made an enormously impressive impact on the company's operations since he joined us in 2004. After a thorough review, the board is pleased to confirm that David has its full backing to lead the company to its next level of growth."
David Gosen said:
"I am very pleased to be given the opportunity as CEO to provide continued leadership for I-play's exciting future. The mobile entertainment industry is simply the most dynamic and inspirational industry to be working in today and I-play is already one of the industry's leading independent mobile games companies. Together with the fantastic team we have here, I look forward to capitalizing on the massive potential we now see as the company and the industry matures."
Notes to Editors
David Gosen's experience spans over 20 years of Sales, Marketing and Distribution management in blue-chip entertainment and consumer goods multinationals. At Nintendo, he was responsible for launching three new market-redefining platforms: the Nintendo GameCube, the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Advance SP. Prior to Nintendo, David was Marketing and Distribution Director at British Sky Broadcasting from 1996 to 1999, and previously held a number of senior marketing and sales positions at Mercury One-to-One, Pepsico, and CocaCola & Schweppes Beverages.
I-play brings the best in mobile entertainment to an audience of over one billion people via retail stores, online portals including http://www.iplay.com/ and a network of over 100 carriers worldwide, including Sprint (NYSE:S), Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), Cingular, Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L) and Telefonica Moviles (NYSE: TEM), amongst others. I-play has been creating mobile games since 1998 and continues to spearhead the creation of games for the next generation. As one of the world's longest established and respected creators of mobile entertainment, the I-play brand stands for quality and the best in mobile development. Working with the best media and entertainment brands I-play is dedicated to fulfilling the promise of the mobile phone as the first truly mass-market electronic entertainment platform.
I-play's investors are Apax Partners and Argo Global Capital. I-play is headquartered in London, with European Regional HQ in Dunfermline, Scotland and North American Regional HQ in San Mateo, California as well as sales offices in Paris, Hamburg, Madrid, Rome, New York and Singapore.
For more information, please call +44 (0) 20 7901 1760 or visit us at http://www.iplay.com/ I-play is a trademark and trading name of Digital Bridges Limited.