Yahoo, EA Veteran Joins PlayFirst as GM

PlayFirst is looking to get more involved with social gaming initiatives, and today the company announced a new hire to steer the ship in the right direction. Mitali Pattnaik has joined PlayFirst to serve as General Manager, Social Games. She'll be responsible for PlayFirst’s development and publishing of games for Facebook and social platforms.

“Social platforms are a natural fit for PlayFirst,” said PlayFirst CEO, Mari Baker. “We have a history of publishing best-selling games for women, and can mine our catalog of great IP to bring well-known brands to the social platform. We are already seeing a large crossover factor between our traditional PC download customers and those playing on Facebook and we expect this trend to continue. I am excited to have Mitali on the team, and her experience in social games and monetization combined with tremendous leadership skills are a real asset to the company.”

Pattnaik is well versed in social initiatives. She led the marketing and monetization efforts for social gaming at Electronic Arts, and directed online marketing efforts for the launch of The Sims 3, which became the best-selling PC game last year. She also helped launch The Sims 3 Store, which housed virtual goods and products for The Sims 3. Prior to EA, she served as Senior Marketing Manager at Yahoo!, where she oversaw worldwide marketing for Yahoo! Search. She also led the launch of Yahoo! Video and directed the Doritos and Yahoo! “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign.