John Pleasants, currently head of Disney’s social games unit Playdom, and Yahoo media head James Pitaro have been named co-presidents of Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG).
The executives take up their new jobs, in which they are replacing former DIMG president Steve Wadsworth, later this month.
Pleasants will lead Disney’s digital games businesses, including online, console, social and mobile. He will also continue to run Playdom, the social games publishing company acquired by Disney earlier this year.
Pitaro will oversee Disney Online, the home of Disney branded web and social media sites.
In a statement, Disney said the new structure of DIMG “is intended to enhance the strategic focus and responsiveness of the company’s digital games and Disney Online businesses in a marketplace characterized by swiftly evolving consumer behavior and technologies. The structure is designed so that the two businesses can share consumer insights and technological resources and jointly take advantage of growth opportunities.”
Pleasants, who will be based in the Bay Area, will oversee Disney’s overall games strategy and its global network of game development studios, including recently acquired mobile publisher Tapulous. The games group will include such online virtual worlds as Club Penguin and World of Cars as well as console and mobile titles.
In leading Disney Online, Pitaro will be responsible for enhancing the consumer experience on the company’s numerous Disney- branded web and social media sites, including Disney.com, the global site for kids and families, and Family.com. Pitaro will also oversee Disney’s social media marketing agency, DigiSynd.
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