After six years, Glu Mobile’s CEO is moving on. The mobile game publisher announced yesterday that President and CEO Greg Ballard will leave the company, which has retained an executive recruiting firm to find a new leader.
Glu Mobile was one of the earliest in the mobile game industry to institute cutbacks during the recession. The company laid off employees, reduced office space and Ballard himself took a 25 percent cut in pay. Executives blamed the overall slowdown in handset sales – people buy the most games in the first 90 days of owning a new handset.
In a statement yesterday, Ballard said he and the board agree it’s a good time to bring in new leadership as the company focuses on returning to generating positive cash and putting more investment in next-gen mobile platforms. Ballard will continue in his role until a successor is found.
The company said it expects its final financial results for the second quarter to be consistent with the guidance that it provided in May.
"We believe that our preliminary results for the second quarter highlight our commitment to effectively compete in the traditional carrier business, while continuing to invest in our new platform initiatives and focus on solid execution and cost controls," said CFO Eric Ludwig in a press release. “The company remains committed to being cash flow positive from operations during FY09."
Earlier this year, Ballard said the company tried to cover as many platforms as possible, including the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and others.