Last November, Aristocrat purchased Big Fish Gaming (BFG) for almost $1 billion. Since then, the Australian company has invested a lot of resources in expanding its operations, while at the same time also experiencing obstacles. Now, to help the company further its social gaming agenda more, it has turned to an industry expert to lead the way.

Jeff Karp, an executive with a long list of experience in the industry, has been tapped to run the helm of BFG. He has over 15 years’ experience as a senior executive with several companies, including Zynga, Electronic Arts and GSN Games. He has also provided a great deal of assistance in building what became multi-billion-dollar franchise games, including Farmville, Bingo Bash, the entire SIMS franchise, Words With Friends, EA SPORTS, GSN Casino, among others.

Karp moves to BFG from Sports Illustrated Play (SIP), where he held the role of CEO. SIP is a youth sports digital platform that provides sports league management software. SIP was recently acquired by Comcast/NBC and Karp built platforms with the company that supported over 17 million users each month.

In his new position, Karp will serve as the managing director and president of the company, while helping to continue the expansion of BFG around the globe. Aristocrat’s chief digital/chief strategy officer, Jeff Goldstein, said, “I am delighted to welcome Jeff Karp to Big Fish. Jeff’s expertise in growing games into global entertainment franchises is unsurpassed. His proven track record and deep experience in the games industry make him the ideal person to drive Big Fish’s growth strategy, and ensure the business delivers its full potential.”