Top OnLive exec quits

A key executive at OnLive has departed from the company, just months after the cloud gaming group launched its service in the UK.

John Spinale, who was OnLive’s vice president of for games and media, has accepted the role of senior VP of social games at Disney. He’ll engage with Disney’s online gaming efforts, most notably with social studio Playdom.

The resignation could trigger further doubts about the commercial viability of OnLive. Earlier this month CEO Steve Perlman said the service has attracted an audience of “millions”, though again fell short of releasing any concrete user or revenue numbers.

The company’s cloud gaming service has been live in the US for nearly 18 months, yet has not disclosed specific registration or revenue data.

Having initially launched as a publisher platform, OnLive was at one stage seen to be repositioning itself as a more developer-centric service. Yesterday, however, it unveiled yet another line of thinking. It has now partnered with Juniper Networks to offer a remote streaming desktop service for business clients.

The reason for Spinale’s departure is not clear.

“Playdom has an exciting roadmap for 2012 and beyond, and John will play an important role in bringing the magic of Disney to the world’s most popular social media platforms," said Disney Interactive Media co-president John Pleasants.

“Social games are a key part of Disney’s digital strategy, and will be a critical driver of Disney Interactive Media Group’s future success."