DirectX creator to work on social games for Facebook competitor hi5

by Dave Rudden
December 01, 2009 14:30 PM PST

While Facebook has been a hotbed for casual gaming as of late, rival social networking site hi5 has hired video game industry vet Alex St. John to spearhead the company's social networking games.

DirectX creator to create social games for hi5

With the breakout success of social gaming in 2009, it should come as no surprise that other social networking sites will try to stake a claim at Facebook's crown. Fellow social site hi5 (hi5.com) made a huge move towards challenging the current king by hiring Alex St. John--co-creator of Microsoft's DirectX video game/multimedia technology and founder of PC gaming service WildTangent--as its President and Chief Technology Officer.

While it's not yet known how closely St. John will be working in bolstering hi5's gaming content, hi5 CEO Bill Gossman made his gaming experience a central point of his statement about the hiring, saying "[Alex's] extensive experience and leadership in gaming platforms, traffic optimization, and game monetization make him a vital addition to the hi5 team."

hi5's current gaming slate consists of a mix of in-house creations and third-party games from distributors like MochiGames (MochiGames.com). You can find out more about St. John's experience and hi5's gaming platform by checking out the press release on the hi5 blog.