RealNetworks CEO Kimball resigns after 8 months

After little more than a year at the helm of troubled Internet media delivery software and services provider RealNetworks, president Bob Kimball has tendered his resignation.

The Seattle-based firm announced that another senior executive, Mike Lunsford, will step in as interim CEO while the company searches for a replacement.

Kimball had worked for RealNetworks since 1999 and officially took the title of company head only last July.

"After twelve amazing years at Real, it is time for me to find new challenges and opportunities," Kimball said.

According to the outgoing CEO, the company's recent radical reorganisation and streamlining "has set the stage for Real to embark on its next phase with a clean bill of health and a strong foundation."

This aforementioned corporate restructuring has included RealNetworks absorbing its mobile and casual gaming arm GameHouse into the parent organisation's HQ, cutting 85 jobs from its Seattle hub, and closing down Finnish video game studio Mr Goodliving.

The cost-cutting measures were viewed as essential for a business that saw overall revenue fall by 29 percent yoy to $401.7 million in 2010.

Game division GameHouse has also reported falling sales over four consecutive quarters.

[source: GeekWire]