Mforma works on bringing entertainment to cell phones

January 17th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Rather than tell you, Dan Kranzler chooses instead to show you how he turned Mforma into a worldwide publisher of video games, ring tones and other hot downloads for mobile phones. From his wallet, he produces five gold frequent-flier cards. With United Airlines alone, he achieved premier status midway through the year.

His point: To build a business, you have to go out and get it. More …

JAMDAT Mobile Invests in Chinese Wireless Content Distributor, C-Valley; Leading Wireless Entertainment Publisher Expands Distribution into China

January 13th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Global wireless entertainment publisher JAMDAT Mobile Inc. announced today an investment in Chinese wireless entertainment distributor, C-Valley. This investment allows JAMDAT to distribute its wireless content in China through C-Valley.

Based in Beijing, C-Valley is one of China’s leading wireless entertainment distributors. C-Valley has forged strong relationships with two of the largest wireless carriers in the world, China Mobile and China Unicom, and also developed comprehensive distribution services. The Company is led by Leo Liu, President and CEO, who was instrumental in launching some of the first wireless games and content in China during his tenure at Motorola China. More …

JAMDAT Buys Gaming Firm Downtown Wireless

January 10th, 2005 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Los Angeles-based JAMDAT Mobile announced that it has purchased Los Angeles-based Downtown Wireless, a developer of wireless entertainment games. Downtown is the developer of the game Downtown Texas Hold ‘Em. More … More …(2)

Vishal Gondal “We’re the leader in wireless games”

December 31st, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Indiagames Ltd is on Cloud 9. The Mumbai-based wireless game developer is in the process of finalising its new strategy and expansion plans after it signed a definitive agreement with TOM Online Inc, China that enables the latter to acquire a majority stake in Indiagames Ltd.
What is the road map for Indiagames?

What are its immediate plans? Vishal Gondal, founder and Chief Executive Officer, Indiagames Ltd, shares the company’s plans in an exclusive interview. More …

Indiagames: Chinese Internet firm buys into wireless

December 17th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Tom Online, a Chinese wireless Internet company, said Friday that it will buy a majority stake in Indiagames, a mobile-game specialist.

Tom Online will acquire 80.6 percent of Indiagames’ equity for $17.7 million, the companies said. The rest of the stake will be held by Indiagames’ founder, Vishal Gondal, and key management staff. Indiagames employs 160 people and has developed games for Hollywood studios, handset makers and service providers using the I-mode and BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) platforms. More …

InfoSpace continues acquisition spree with Elkware buyout

December 16th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

German publisher/developer joins IOMO in InfoSpace’s growing line-up of studios

US wireless content firm InfoSpace has announced that it has acquired major German mobile games company Elkware, marking its third major acquisition in the rapidly consolidating mobile space so far this year.

Publisher/developer Elkware, which has distribution networks throughout continental Europe and recently began pushes into the USA and UK markets, was bought out for approximately $26 million in a cash transaction. More …

Fathammer Receives a Capital Investment of One Million Euros

December 14th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Finnish mobile graphics and gaming company Fathammer has received a capital investment of one million euros from Sitra. Founded in 2000 by a group of industry veterans with backgrounds in gaming, telecommunications and mobile technology, Fathammer now has offices in Helsinki and Seoul, Korea.

With this investment, Sitra will become the third largest shareholder of Fathammer. Previous investors include 3i, funds managed by Nexit Ventures and a group of individual investors. The investment will be used to strengthen Fathammer’s position as an international mobile game developer and distributor. More …

Overloaded launches real-time mobile gaming service with Terraplay multiplayer platform

December 8th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Terraplay Systems signs agreement with Overloaded, a leading Dutch developer and distributor and an Endemol owned company, to provide multiplayer gaming.

"Overloaded has been evaluation multiplayer platforms for some time now and we found that Terraplay’s powerful and flexible platform gives us the ability to offer multiplayer gaming solutions efficiently and effectively over 2.5G and 3G networks today and tomorrow" says Ashu Mathura, Overloaded Managing Director. "We are the first to roll-out real-time multiplayer mobile games big time to end consumers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Greece and we are sure that they will become a vital extension to our existing game services to end consumers and operators in these regions". More …

Comment: Sorrent and InfoSpace kick off mobile gaming consolidation

December 8th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

This week’s large-scale mergers in the mobile gaming space are another sign that the burgeoning industry is reaching maturity, and will make the sector seem much more attractive to external companies, argues Rob Fahey. More …

Digital Bridges To Open Major North American Operational Hub

December 3rd, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Revenue grew by 30%

Digital Bridges today announced the opening of a cross-functional operational hub in San Mateo, California, to complement its existing production and technology facilities in Scotland.

Its San Mateo offices will become the company’s North American headquarters, incorporating Development, Production and QA departments and a Sales and Marketing team.

The move caps a year in which Digital Bridges became one of the fastest-growing mobile game publishers in the dynamic North American market. More …