Wall Street analyst joins the Playdom expansion

Californian social game group Playdom has hired a new chief financial officer amid speculation that the group will go public to speed up investment.

Confidence in social game companies has hit new heights in recent weeks, typified by EA’s $300 million acquisition of social kingpin Playfish. Such companies would clearly have a chance if they floated their stock.

Playdom, seemingly preparing for further aggressive expansion, has sought the services of Christa Quarles as its new CFO.

Quarles has built a reputation as an experienced Wall Street analyst, spending years researching internet groups such as Google and Yahoo.

She spent close to ten years at investment bank Thomas Weisel Partners, and joins Playdom at a time when it stands as the third-biggest group in the social gaming space.

Playdom was recently backed by $43 million in VC funds, and the firm is expected to make $60 million in revenue this year.

It also bought out two of its rivals in the sector; Trippert Labs and Green Patch.

In June the firm underwent a transformation after hiring the well-known former EA exec John Pleasants, who joined Playdom as COO.