The tumultuous path to stability for pioneering streaming service OnLive continues, with the company announcing that founder and former CEO and president Steve Perlman is leaving.
Former head of OnLive operations Charlie Jablonski will take over Perlman’s responsibilities. Gary Lauder, the new (and lead) investor in OnLive from Lauder Partners LLC, is OnLive’s new chairman.
The investment form Lauder Partners appears to have saved the company from a much worse fate.
"I spent my first week with OnLive listening, to gather people’s thoughts and suggestions,” said Lauder in today’s press release. “It’s an impressive group, and I am even more convinced that this company is poised for greatness.”
It’s been an incredibly rough few weeks for OnLive, especially so for its employees. More than half of OnLive’s employees, which may have been anywhere between 150 to 200 individuals, were laid off as part of the transition to a new company formed through the investment from Lauder Partners. The other half were on board kept to keep OnLive running, though this month’s desperate moves suggest a tough path ahead for everyone involved.
Gaikai, one of OnLive’s chief competitors, was sold to Sony last month for $380 million.