Playtika snaps up Wooga, who is buying Zynga, and Jam City layoffs
Social casino games behemoth Playtika revealed it had snapped up Berlin-based developer Wooga last week.
The move is all part of the Israel-based firms plans to expand further in the casual games space. Previously, Playtika picked up Jelly Button Games in October 2017.
The news certainly piqued the interest of the mobile games industry as our most read story of the past week.
Our second most read article of last week came from senior editor Craig Chapple, who weighed in on which company could be buying Zynga.
Bloomberg dropped the news last month that few companies had made preliminary discussions over the possibility of snapping up Zynga, but stopped short of naming names.
Layoffs, investment and Epic
Elsewhere, Cookie Jam developer Jam City allegedly laid off a significant number of developers, with those affected taking to social media to confirm the news.
Finally, Henric Suuronen stopped by to fill us in on his new investment set up Play Ventures, its $30 million fund and why there is still plenty of opportunity on mobile, and Fortnite developer Epic is set to launch its own Android games storefront.
#5: Epic is launching its own Android games storefront off back of Fortnite success
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Epic is launching its own Android games storefront off back of Fortnite success »Games and engine developers Epic Games has revealed the rollout of a new digital storefront for games.
The marketplace offers developers 88 per cent of cash made from their games, with 12 per cent going to Epic.
"As a developer ourselves, we have always wanted a platform with great economics that connects us directly with our players," said Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney (pictured).
"Thanks to the success of Fortnite, we now have this and are ready to share it with other developers."
While only available for PC and Mac right now, support for Android and other platforms is expected in 2019.
#4: Mobile still has ‘plenty of opportunity’ says Henric Suuronen, launching $30 million Play Ventures fund
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Mobile still has ‘plenty of opportunity’ says Henric Suuronen, launching $30 million Play Ventures fund »With personal investments into 14 companies, angel investor Henric Suuronen could claim to know a thing or two about the foggy landscapes of backing projects financially.
Some of his investments include the likes of mobile game devs Futureplay and Traplight, which in subsequent funding rounds have raised over $120 million.
Another in Huuuge Games has even been valued at over $500 million.
Now, however, Suuronen is taking the next step in the investment game with a new early-stage investment company called Play Ventures.
Speaking to PocketGamer.Biz about his desire to start up the firm, Suuronen told us that the idea stems from the success of Huuuge Games, and the reaction his friends had when also choosing to invest in it.
“Some of my friends invested in Huuuge Games and they’re pretty pleased now,” said Suuronen.
“But the result was I got a lot more requests from people who were interested in investing with me.”
#3: Jam City laid off “a large number” of developers on Friday
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Jam City laid off “a large number” of developers on Friday »Last week saw reports of Cookie Jam developer Jam City laying off numerous members of staff.
One such came from an anonymous source that spoke to VentureBeat, which claimed that a “significant number” of employees had lost their jobs.
Neither the source nor Jam City itself have released an exact figure.
Another source of info came from a now-deleted LinkedIn post from former Jam City executive producer Rachel DiPaola, in which she claims that she was a part of layoffs at the company.
#2: Who could be top dog in the fight to acquire Zynga?
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Who could be top dog in the fight to acquire Zynga? »One of last month's news updates saw Bloomberg reveal that few companies were more than interested in snapping up Zynga.
People supposedly familiar with the matter claim that preliminary approaches have been made, though there is not yet to be any formal discussions on a takeover.
That article does not, however, delve into the nitty-gritty of which company could be interested in Zynga and why.
Our senior editor Craig Chapple looked into the matter and found that Netmarble, NetEase, Tencent, EA and Ubisoft could be the most likely of candidates, and why a deal would - or wouldn't - work for them.
#1: Social casino giant Playtika acquires Pearl’s Peril dev Wooga
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Social casino giant Playtika acquires Pearl’s Peril dev Wooga »Social casino games giant Playtika has furthered its presence in the casual gaming space with the purchase of Berlin-based developer Wooga.
The deal follows on from the purchase of Jelly Button Games in October 2017.
A deal for Wooga means that half of Playtika’s portfolio is now made up of casual titles.
The publisher went on to say that it plans to help accelerate Wooga’s growth. The German studio is most famous for titles such as Pearl’s Peril and June’s Journey.
It currently employs 180 staff with a focus on story-driven casual games in the puzzle and hidden object genres.