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Mind Candy CEO Michael Acton Smith Stepping Down

Mind Candy’s Michael Acton Smith announces, via YouTube, that he will step aside as CEO in order to focus more on the business’s creative side.

Michael Acton Smith announced today he will step aside as CEO of Mind Candy in order to focus more on the business’s creative side, according to a report by Kidscreen.

Since founding the London-based company a decade ago, the success of online game Moshi Monsters pushed Mind Candy into a massive global success with revenues exceeding $80 million in 2012. This year, the company announced a new franchise, World of Warriors, as well as a kids-focused Instagram-like project called PopJam. Smith says running the company has become more complex as it expanded to multiple products, multiple studios and a growing staff.

“I am self-aware enough to know that I am much better on the creative side of business than the operations side,” Smith said in a video posted to YouTube earlier today. “I think maybe it’s time that I moved into a more creative role.”

While Moshi Monsters has more than 80 million subscribers, the game’s popularity has reportedly waned. In the U.S., monthly traffic to its site fell from 1.7 million in January 2013 to 743,000 in December 2013, according to digital business analytics company ComScore. Over the same time frame, British visitors fell from 1.3 million to 730,000 per month.

Divinia Knowles, Mind Candy’s COO, will step into the lead role as president while the board searches for a new CEO.

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.