US mobile developer Jam City has revealed that it has cancelled its current plan of going public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Previously, the company had announced that it would float through a merger with special purpose acquisition company DPCM Capital, enabling it to also acquire Canadian mobile studio Ludia for $175 million. As a result, the firm would have been valued at $1.2 billion, with Jam City predicting bookings of $868 million in 2022.

However, both companies now mutually expressed that the merger would cease due to the "current market conditions". No further details were given as to why this decision was made. It's believed Jam City still wants to acquire Ludia but will need to organise a new source of capital before the purchase can go ahead. 

Cancelled plans

Jam City was founded in 2010 by Chris DeWolfe, a MySpace co-founder and former CEO. The studio is best known for its various mobile titles, such as Cookie Jam, Disney Emoji Blitz and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. The latter of which is maintained as a multi-year game development agreement with Disney.

DPCM Capital was established in 2020 by Uber senior vice president of business Emil Michael, who operates as a chairman and CEO.

One thing that's worth noting is that once the SPAC was announced back in May, the stock price for DPCM Capital remained relatively unchanged. Market trends expected that the stock would rise, however, this wasn't the case and may have factored into the deal not going ahead.

PocketGamer.biz has reached out to Jam City for comment.

Jam City president Josh Yguado recently spoke with us about the acquisition of Ludia and the now-abandoned plans to go public.

Disney Emoji Blitz surpassed 40 million downloads in July, five years after the initial launch of the title.