Friendster, the early leader in social networks, is about to close the door on profiles and reinvent itself as a gaming-and-music site that uses Facebook Connect.

Friendster was flying high in the early years of the last decade, but stumbled as MySpace and then Facebook overtook it domestically. Friendster found refuge outside the United States, particularly in the Philippines and Asia. The company, backed with $50 million in venture capital from high-profile firms, was sold to Malaysian company MOL Global in 2009 for about $40 million.

Now the company is saying it will delete users’ photos and ...