ngmoco looking beyond games for Mobage with Joanna Drake Earl hire

Social mobile gaming company brings in new blood to help take its community global - and into new entertainment forms?

Social mobile games company ngmoco has hired Joanna Drake Earl as COO to run its day-to-day operations. She joins from a role as chief strategy officer and COO at broadcaster Current TV, having previously worked at Moxi and ReacTV.

What does ngmoco want with a TV executive? Drake Earl's comments hint that the DeNA subsidiary has ambitions beyond games for its Mobage community, which went global in July this year in beta form for Android.

"Games are only the beginning," she says. "We're just starting to harness what's possible for a truly mobile entertainment network and Mobage is a bold step into the future of how consumers will discover, share and interact with content around the world."

ngmoco CEO Neil Young says Drake Earl's experience at Current TV will be a crucial ingredient in Mobage's growth now.

"Her transformative work in architecting and managing participatory media platforms at Current TV will be central to bringing the Mobage mobile entertainment network to life around the world. She brings deep expertise to our executive team and we're thrilled to have her join ngmoco."