Shanda Games (NASDAQ:GAME), China’s second-largest online gaming company, has lost its president, ‘Tony’ Ling Hai (pictured right), who has resigned from the company. Mr. Ling has done so in order to go back to the entrepreneurial life to work on his own gaming and social media startup.
He had been president of Shanda’s gaming division since 2008, and had joined the parent company Shanda Interactive (NASDAQ:SNDA) way back in 2003, and was at one time the VP there.
It’s a big boost to the entrepreneurial scene in China, bringing a very experienced hand into a new startup. The new venture of Ling’s is called Butterfly Interactive – at hoodinn.com – and it is based in Shanghai. Currently it is developing its product, and the website contains no further clues as to what it might be.
Shanda Games is second only to Tencent in terms of revenue from online gaming in China. It is best known for running multiplayer titles such as World Zero and the Final Fantasy series.
On his Sina Weibo page Ling mused that, “We have come too far and have forgotten why we started.” That’s probably the best clue as to why he’s getting back to his roots.
[Source: Netease Gaming news - article in Chinese]