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Chinese mobile game developer and publisher CocoaChina is set to expand its US operations with the appointment of Keepsy co-founder Kai Zhao as VP of engineering.
Zhao will be responsible for leading the technical direction for mobile games published in the US, as well as building partnerships with studios.
He will also be tasked with growing the Cocos2d-x game engine amongst the development community in North America.
“Our primary objective in 2013 is to improve development infrastructure, user engagement, and monetisation for mobile games published in the US market and beyond, and Kai’s technical expertise will drive us in the right direction,” said CocoaChina US general manage Lei Zhang.
“We’ve established a strong developer community overseas and built key partnerships with several top developers. This year we plan to continue to build out and support the large community here in the West as well.”
Before joining CocoaChina, Zhao helped found photo-sharing company Keepsy, taking on the role of chief technology officer at the firm and leading development of its web and mobile products. He has also worked at other companies such as AOL, Netscape and Motorola.
CocoaChina, also known as Chukong, has published mobile titles such as Fishing Joy 2, which it claims has generated $1.6m in monthly revenue, with a free-to-paid conversion rate of 30 per cent in China.
