Archive for the ‘Companies & M&A’ Category

Macrospace: Java games developer sell out

December 2nd, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Sorrent, a creator and global publisher of mobile entertainment, has announced an agreement to acquire Macrospace, an award-winning mobile games publisher based in London. Like Sorrent, Macrospace has built a reputation on creating innovative, high quality mobile entertainment titles, including Fatal Force: Earth Assault, winner of the 2004 Mobile Consumer Choice award for best game.

"Macrospace is one of the most highly regarded mobile gaming companies in Europe and is a true culture fit with Sorrent," said Greg Ballard, chief executive officer, Sorrent. "The company has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to quality. Their exceptional management team, innovative portfolio of games, and extraordinary technology and distribution significantly enhances our position in Europe and will be a substantial asset to Sorrent as we seek to become the leading mobile entertainment publisher in the world." More …

InfoSpace Announces Acquisition of European Mobile Games Publisher IOMO

December 1st, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

InfoSpace, Inc. today announced its acquisition of U.K.-based IOMO Limited, an award-winning developer and publisher of mobile games. The consideration is approximately $15 million, payable in cash.

"We are excited to build our presence in Europe and to expand our role in the mobile games space by acquiring IOMO," said Jim Voelker, chairman and chief executive officer of InfoSpace, Inc. "With IOMO’s great team, strong publishing capabilities and broad distribution relationships, we will extend our reach by offering high quality mobile games to subscribers across the world." More …

Digital looks to develop in California

November 22nd, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Digital Bridges, the mobile computer game company, is set to open a development centre in California after raising

Vodafone’s 3G launch reaches for mobile gaming’s holy grail

November 18th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A, Games, Trends | No Comments »

Games czar Tim Harrison takes us behind the scenes of his company’s 3G launch in Europe.

As the world’s largest mobile carrier, Vodafone’s capacity for making dramatic statements and sweeping business maneuvers is now more expected than it is surprising. The multinational’s aggressive partnering strategy has allowed it to push into markets from Kuwait and Japan to Malta, propagating forward-thinking mobile services like Vodafone live! and pay-as-you-go plans wherever the red teardrop has spread.

Now that it has expanded into a sizable percentage of the world’s arable land mass, Vodafone’s aiming its next quantum leap in a different direction: boosting marginal revenue and encouraging new subscriptions with next-generation mobile data services. Vodafone live! with 3G, which Vodafone unveiled last week in 13 countries in Europe and Asia, features a set of capabilities that will have almost any mobile consumer drooling–or so the company hopes. More …

Warner Music Group and m-Qube Announce Group-Wide Mobile Content Agreement for World-Renowned Record Labels and Artists

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

Agreement Allows Labels and Artists to Reach Fans and Promote Their Music by Taking Advantage of the Mobile Music Channel.

Warner Music Group (WMG) today announced a multi-faceted agreement with m-Qube, a leading enabler of mobile content and applications, to create and deliver ringtones, images, messaging and other mobile content to music fans in the U.S. This agreement covers Warner Music Group’s world-renowned record labels and artists. More …

Mastertronic Goes MAD4Games On Mobile Phones

November 14th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | 1 Comment »

Budget Giant Launches New Games Channel

The Mastertronic Group Ltd makes an innovative and exciting move into the mobile gaming market with the formation of MAD4Games, a subsidiary company focused on creating a new channel for delivering mobile games direct to the consumer. MAD4Games’ service, due for launch in November, will offer consumers access to top-quality games at value prices.

For publishers, the service will extend product life cycles by taking proven releases and remarketing them to a new audience. New and established users will benefit from a new distribution platform powered by MAD4Games’ revolutionary new .NOW technology. .NOW takes the hassle out of selecting, buying and installing mobile phone games. The platform also adds a host of value-added features ranging from hints and tips to competitions, publisher promotions and handset-specific support. More …

Can Jamdat Survive the Hype?

November 10th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Even prior to the release of its third-quarter earnings, investors clearly had high — no, make that stratospheric — expectations from new issue Jamdat Mobile (Nasdaq: JMDT), a publisher of mobile games and wireless entertainment. The company closed yesterday at $32.35, valuing it at more than $600 million, or 25 times trailing sales. More …

Telcogames Creates German Subsidiary

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

Mobile games distributor Telcogames is continuing it’s global expansion with the creation of subsidiary company Telcogames Germany and the appointment of Kim Shon as managing director.
Based in Meerbusch/Duesseldorf, Telcogames Germany will be responsible for making Telcogames’ catalogue of over 700 mobile phone games available to top tier mobile network operators, portals and retailers throughout Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. More …

Big surge in Qualcomm earnings

November 5th, 2004 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Companies & M&A | No Comments »

Fueled by increasing demand for cell phones that can surf the Internet and play games, Qualcomm ended its fiscal year with record revenue and record earnings more than double those of the previous year. More …

Global brands go mobile

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

Think mobile content is just for geeks? Mickey Mouse begs to differ.

Mark Handler, executive vice president and managing director, Walt Disney Internet Group International

Many people hear the words “mobile content” and instantly think of young, male “gamer” types. Although that segment represents early adopters, Disney has found that mobile content presents a strong business opportunity in more mainstream content for mass audiences, especially when you view it from a global perspective.

In August 2000, with a combination of calculated risk and blind faith, the WDIG (Walt Disney Internet Group) entered the nascent mobile-content market in Japan, aggressively investing in production, marketing, and infrastructure to launch the Disney-i service with NTT DoCoMo. What started as a basic suite of services, including Disney-branded graphics, ring tones, games, and utilities, quickly developed into a meaningful and profitable business. Disney Mobile is now the No. 1 brand of mobile content in Japan. It has relationships with the four major Japanese carriers