Live Gamer Expands Technology Team by Adding Virtual Economy Expert As New Senior Vice President, Platform Development

15-Year Industry Vet Barry Sohl Will Spearhead New Product Initiatives for Virtual Item Company

Live Gamer® (www.livegamer.com), the company that introduced publisher-supported player-to-player real money trading (RMT) of virtual goods to online game publishers and operators, today announced the company has hired Barry Sohl as its new senior vice president, platform development.

"Barry was the perfect candidate to move Live Gamer into the future of virtual economy-based business models," said Josh Kramer, chief technology officer of Live Gamer. "He has deep technological expertise and extensive relationships in this space and we look forward to the new business and product lines he will pioneer on behalf of our clients."

"Publishers and operators face a significant opportunity to implement and expand their virtual economies," said Barry Sohl. "I’m delighted to join Live Gamer, a company dedicated to innovation, and looking forward to keeping us on the forefront of technology and delivering on the potential of these emerging business models."

Sohl was previously the chief technology officer for VEconomy, where he was charged with developing innovative technology platforms and business models for the rapidly growing virtual economy industry. He has performed extensive research in topics related to virtual economies including: micro-transactions, RMT, international payment processing, anti-fraud measures, credit card chargeback fraud, gold farming, and duping.

Most recently as the leading technology and product development consultant for the virtual economy industry, he has also provided strategic counsel to clients including Nickelodeon Virtual Worlds Group (MTV/Viacom), EA and many others for MMO, mobile, social gaming and Virtual World projects. He gave input into product design, build vs. buy decisions, and technical direction as he walked clients through the complete sales to integration cycle on third party micro-transaction platforms. He has expert knowledge in micropayment, e-wallet, merchant processing, fraud and related solutions.

Sohl began his career as a programmer, consultant, and university lecturer before moving into developing large-scale Internet projects with an emphasis on multi-tier, e-commerce and portal solutions. After building his e-commerce expertise, he became the Vice President of Technology at Radical Communications, and then founded his own company, DemiVision. There he created the first application server platform built from the ground-up for J2ME and BREW mobile multiplayer gaming. In 2004, DemiVision’s technology was acquired by the industry's leading content provider JAMDAT Mobile, Inc., which soon became EA Mobile.

He continues to teach advanced courses in computer science at GoldenWest College, where he is the co-chair of the Campus Technology Committee. Sohl is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and received his masters in Computer Science at California State University, Long Beach. His master’s thesis focused on solutions to scalability issues in MUDs and MMOs. Sohl has authored four patents related to networking and multiplayer gaming.

About Live Gamer

Live Gamer is the global leader of total commerce solutions for micro-transaction-based businesses. Spanning online games, virtual worlds, and social networks, Live Gamer provides an advanced offering that goes beyond monetization to drive core business metrics and optimize new transaction-based revenue streams. Combining its micro-transaction platform, primary and secondary market management, fraud and security solutions, scalable publisher support and international payment gateways, Live Gamer's technology has been adopted by leading publishers in gaming, social and entertainment including Acclaim, Funcom, NHN USA, Quepasa, MEG Toys and Sony Online Entertainment, supporting over 65 million users in 23 countries.

Founded in 2007, the company is backed by $26 million in venture funding from Charles River Ventures, FirstMark Capital, Kodiak Venture Partners, Rustic Canyon Partners, Triple Point Capital and Venrock. Live Gamer is headquartered in New York with offices in Los Angeles and Palo Alto, CA and Seoul, Korea. For more information, visit www.livegamer.com or connect with us on Twitter (@livegamer), Facebook or MySpace.