Ngmoco hit by redundancies as social giant DeNA restructures operations in the west

Studio reportedly misses first earnout

It's 16 months since Japanese social gaming specialist DeNA acquired ngmoco to strengthen its hand in the west, yet the two parties are still learning to accommodate each other's businesses.

The result is, amid efforts to bolster the standing of social platform Mobage in English speaking markets, the San Francisco-based studio is reportedly having to layoff around 30 members of staff.

The Mobage mountain

Inside Mobile Apps reports a combination of Mobage's slow roll out in the west and a bloated US workforce – stretched out by DeNA's own operations in the region – has hit ngmoco profits, resulting in the studio's attempt to streamline operations moving forward.

The site also claims ngmoco missed its first earnout date following its acquisition by DeNA – the 'technical complexity' of adapting Mobage for the west stalling its efforts.

Despite the reported problems, however, ngmoco CEO Neil Young has claimed it's business at usual at the firm.

"Armed with the insights we've gained from both the western and Japanese markets and after completing the integration of a series of key acquisitions, we've organised our global operations to best support and deliver on our mission to build the leading global social-mobile game platform company," said Young.

"We're incredibly proud of our company and our products. We thank everyone that has helped us get to where we are today."

[source: Inside Mobile Apps]

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