As it shifts to mobile, one of the bigger publisher of free-to-play web games is shaking up its leadership.
German developer InnoGames announced today that Armin Busen will take over as its chief product officer. This will give Busen more responsibilities as he moves up from his position as the company’s chief financial officer. Now, the new CPO will oversee the production of new releases as well as the support for ongoing live games. InnoGames has 150 million registered gamers, and the company is hoping to expand as it focuses more of its efforts on mobile — a $25 billion market.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1645602,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"A"}']While InnoGames began as a developer of browser-based games, it started releasing its biggest hits on iOS and Android last year. That shift to mobile led the company to generate over $100 million in revenue in 2014.
Prior to Busen taking over the role, InnoGames chief executive officer Hendrik Klindworth took responsibility for managing the company’s products. In a statement, Klindworth praised Busen’s analytical skills and knowledge of the gaming market.
The InnoGames CEO went on to say that it is now up to Busen to increase the quality of the developer’s games. He also wants Busen to focus on “profitable growth.”
InnoGames has five live games on the web and mobile: Forge of Empires, Tribal Wars, Tribal Wars 2, Rising Generals, and Grepolis. Each are strategy games with a focus on combat and historical settings, and they are all targeted at what many analysts refer to as a “midcore gamer.” That is someone who likes more challenging and serious games than FarmVille or Candy Crush Saga but who also prefers free-to-play over spending $60 on a console or PC release.