OpenFeint hires Facebook gaming expert

Ethan Fassett, former executive producer at Playdom, has joined mobile social gaming network OpenFeint as senior vice president of product.

Fassett will concentrate on both reaching out to gamers with new communication features and on working with the developers with new tools and initiatives.

"Game developers are looking for an engaged social graph and communication tools tailored around the unique community needs of those players," said Fassett.

"As a game-centric social network, OpenFeint is uniquely positioned to deliver on both and I’m excited to expedite the transition of web-based social games to mobile."

During his time at Playdom Fassett worked on Market Street, a Facebook app with 930,000 active users, at the San Francisco studio. Previously he worked with Gaia Online, an anime themed social networking site.

"We’re very excited to bring on Ethan, whose expertise in free-to-play games and social communities will drive product strategy and shape the evolution of the network," said OpenFeint CEO Jason Citron.

"Ethan truly understands social games, the social networks they need to be successful, and the tools game developers need to properly engage and monetize their players."

OpenFeint is the largest social gaming network on the web, and in February launched a number of cross platform features like friends lists and leaderboards across its product range. In April it was purchased by Japanese company Gree for $104 million.