Online game developer Jagex (RuneScape) has announced the appointment of Geoff Iddison, former European CEO of PayPal, has joined the company as CEO, taking the reins from Constant Tedder, who will remain on the Board of Directors.

Iddison held the position of CEO of eBay-owned payments business PayPal Europe since August 2003, having originally led the first expansion of PayPal from its base in California. Prior to joining eBay in 2000, Iddison was COO at auctioneer Christie's. In his new role at Jagex, Iddison will focus on continuing to grow RuneScape, as well as bringing new online games to market.

The browser-based RuneScape is a free-to-play MMORPG with a subscription option, and claims 6 million players worldwide in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Scandinavia, in addition to a recently-launched German-language version of the game.

Commented Iddison, "The technology used to distribute the game and the incredible depth offered to anyone playing RuneScape makes Jagex a very different gaming company. Jagex's mantra is to offer fun, meticulously written and deep storyline-driven online games, at a price which offers unmatched value for money. This will continue to be the basis of the future strategy for the company.”

Added founder and head of game development Andrew Gower, “I am delighted that Geoff has joined us. His track record in e-commerce will definitely help us achieve our next level of goals. There are many exciting projects in the pipeline and we can't wait to further improve our service and the games we offer.”