WildTangent Inc.

Alex St. John

Just a few weeks ago, we reported on layoffs at WildTangent. Now comes word that the Redmond online gaming company's outspoken co-founder is no longer chief executive.

Alex St. John stepped down as CEO the same day the layoffs were announced, said company spokesman Sean Sundwall. The news was reported Friday by Gamasutra.

Given the timing of St. John's announcement, one might think that he was pushed aside. But Sundwall tells us that the transition had been planned for several months, with St. John making the proposal to the board during the summer.

As Wild Tangent expanded its line up of games over the past year, Sundwall said that St. John had a tougher time being the "public face" of the company while at the same time handling the "day-to-day duties."

"The demands of the business were getting to be too much to do both," said Sundwall, adding that St. John continues to have an active role as chairman.

St. John has been replaced by Mike Peronto, who joined Wild Tangent in 2002 after working as an executive at Adobe Systems and WatchGuard Technologies. Sundwall described Peronto as a strong organizational leader.

St. John, who co-founded the company in 1998, has stirred the pot in the industry by predicting that video game consoles will be extinct by 2020. He also routinely needles his former employer, Microsoft.

WildTangent, which has raised more than $50 million from Madrona Venture Group, Greylock, IDG Ventures and others, closed down its game development studio and laid off 20 workers last month.