Kabam, the leader in the western world for free-to-play core games, today announced that Mike DeLaet has joined the company as senior vice president of worldwide business development. DeLaet is a 15-year veteran of the games and telecommunications industries, having been senior vice president of global publishing for Glu Mobile since 2009, and senior manager of games and business development with Sprint Nextel Corp. in the decade prior.

“Kabam’s focus on global strategic business partnerships is becoming increasingly important as we continue the disruption of the games industry,” said Kabam Chief Operating Officer Chris Carvalho. “Mike DeLaet has a proven track record of contributing to companies’ player and revenue growth and we have big goals for him to help take our games into new platforms and geographies.”

DeLaet will report to Carvalho and will oversee Kabam’s growing staff of business development “rainmakers” who already have developed relationships with important game platforms and distribution partners such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook.

“Kabam is a top mobile developer with what I believe to be the strongest mix of monetization systems, core gameplay and high production values,” said DeLaet. “The company has already achieved remarkable success, and I am excited to lead our efforts to reach global scale.”

At Glu, DeLaet led the company’s expansion into Asia-Pacific by hiring key talent in Beijing, China and Seoul, South Korea and by expanding the distribution of the company’s games into the native languages of those countries. At Sprint Nextel Corp. he had profit-and-loss ownership of the games division and managed overall strategy, content selection, partner selection, relationship management, marketing, product management, product development, lifecycle management, device development, device roadmap requirements and merchandising.

DeLaet earned a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis on Technology Management from the University of Phoenix in 2006 and a Bachelor of Science in Management with Honors from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas in 2004. He holds two patents with the United States Patent Office and has four patents pending.

About Kabam

Kabam, the leader in free to play core gaming, is transforming the traditional gaming industry. The company’s studios focus on combining the best elements of traditional and social gaming to appeal to a growing audience of gamers looking for highly immersive social games on PC, mobile, and tablet platforms. Recent Kabam titles include The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth, The Godfather: Five Families, Dragons of Atlantis, Edgeworld, the award-winning Kingdoms of Camelot, and the company’s first mobile game Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North. Kabam games are currently available for play on iOS, Android, Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Kabam.com and an ever growing number of global social networks and online channels, as well as mobile and tablet. Founded in 2006 with headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., Kabam has built a team of game industry professionals, from scratch in the last three years, committed to creating deeply engaging games that delight players. Kabam’s investors include Google Ventures, Intel Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Canaan Partners, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.