PlaySpan Appoints Stevie Case As Sales VP

Less than a year after rival monetization company Live Gamer hired her, industry icon Stevana "Stevie" Case has joined in-game commerce network PlaySpan as vice president of sales. While at PlaySpan, which provides monetization services for more than 1,000 online titles, social networks, and videos, Case is tasked with overseeing the firm's efforts to generate new business leads while also supporting the overall sales team on its existing business initiatives and partnerships. She joined Live Gamer, another microtransaction solutions provider for online games and social networks, just last January, and served as senior director of business development for the company. Prior to that, she was VP of business development and sales at another in-game commerce firm, Fatfoogoo. Case first caught the industry's attention as a female professional gamer after she beat John Romero in a Quake deathmatch, joining the Quake-designer's studio Ion Storm shortly afterward. She served as a tester and level designer there before partnering with Romero and Tom Stone to co-found Monkeystone Games, where she was CEO until 2003. This news comes just just a few weeks after PlaySpan raised $18 million in a Series C round of funding, which it plans to put toward expanding its European and Asian expansion, as well as growing its publisher network and userbase. "Stevie is a widely respected figure in the gaming industry and she has a combination of passion, professionalism, and knowledge that is unmatched," says PlaySpan CEO Karl Mehta. "We are very excited to add her talents and business acumen to our work force, where we will be able to leverage her experience and contacts to expand our presence globally."