Internal development closes at WildTangent

Casual game developer WildTangent has closed down its internal studio at a loss of 20 jobs, the company has confirmed, while Alex St John has stepped down from the CEO role.

"Game development has such a long-term ROI (return on investment)," explained the company's spokesperson Sean Sundwall to Techflash. "In an environment where resources are constrained, you have to look at the businesses that will give you the best return in the shortest period of time."

The changes will result in WildTangent focusing instead on game publishing and advertising sales, with around 80 staff members left working for the Redmond-based company.

According to Gamasutra St John will retain his chairman role, while former COO Mike Peronto has been appointed the new CEO.

An interview with St John was published on GamesIndustry.biz as recently as September this year, when he talked about the death of console gaming, using the arcade model to bring games online, offering free-to-play titles and combating piracy by changing your business model.