Canadian developer IUGO has a solid reputation, ranging from back in the days of BREW and Java through to iOS.

It's released dozens of games, scoring early hits on the App Store with Star Hogs, Toy Bots and Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet, which was notoriously pulled and quickly reinstated by Apple for 'strong' content.

More recently, it was quick into the free-to-play model, releasing Lil' Pirates for Capcom and its own Sunshine Cruise Lines, and now that expertise has been snapped up by the ever hungry GREE.

The Japanese social gaming giant has made a minority equity investment (we're guessing around 30 percent for a couple of million dollars), to bring the Vancouver developer into its sphere of influence.

Joint venture

"Both GREE and IUGO are mobile-first game companies, and we share a common vision of where the game industry is heading," said Hong-Yee Wong, IUGO's CEO.

"Even though IUGO delivered our first game in 2003, I feel like we are just getting started because of the immense opportunities brought forward by the mobile lifestyle. Mobile gaming is soaring on a global scale, and our partnership will put us at the leading edge of this thrust."

"We look forward to working with IUGO's talented team to grow the leading mobile social ecosystem for players and developers," added GREE International's SVP Shanti Bergel.

[source: GREE]