SGN, the Los Angeles-based mobile and social publisher, has announced the acquisition of formerly-independent development studios Fat Rascal and Kiwi.

These acquisitions see the firm expand its operations to Kirkland, Seattle and Palo Alto, California.

For SGN, it seems the focus is on acquiring experience ahead of sheer numbers.

Talent acquisition

Indeed, the Fat Rascal team consists only of 15 staffers - albeit with decades of combined experience at the likes of EA, Microsoft, and Zynga. The team will continue to work from its Kirkland office under SGN.

As for SGN's new Palo Alto studio, 25 Kiwi employees will be brought across as staff members. This team includes experienced game leads from across Kiwi's portfolio - five of which claimed top-25 grossing positions on Google Play.

Kiwi has effectively been shuttered since it sold the bulk of its portfolio to RockYou.

With these acquisitions bankrolled by the $130 million investment from Korean publisher Netmarble in July 2015, it seems that SGN now has a clear strategy for the road ahead.

"Fat Rascal and Kiwi are two of the best independent studios I've seen in the market today, collectively being involved in some of the biggest social/mobile games in the industry, said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of SGN.

"It's an exciting time for us as we continue to deploy fresh capital and acquire the brightest game talent to expand our development capabilities globally."