Zynga buys mobile game developer Omgpop
Zynga Inc., eager to fast-track its presence in mobile games, has snatched up Omgpop, the New York-based developer of Draw Something and more than 35 other titles.
The companies did not disclose the purchase price when the deal was announced Wednesday, but VentureBeat reported this week that Zynga and Japanese mobile company Gree were both considering buying Omgpop for about $200 million.
Although Omgpop has been around since 2006, it wasn’t until it released Draw Something six weeks ago that the company vaulted into prominence.
The game, sold for both Apple iOS and Google Android devices, challenges one player to draw a picture of an object while the other guesses what is being drawn. Downloaded more than 35 million times, Draw Something is currently the top title on Apple’s App Store. It is priced at 99 cents, but players can also buy virtual items and additional content.
Omgpop Chief Executive Dan Porter, who will become vice president of Zynga New York, said his company has 40 employees.
Although Zynga dominates the charts for Facebook games, occupying six of the top 10 titles within the social network, it scores less well in mobile games. Zynga’s Scramble With Friends is the No. 10 title among top iOS paid applications and Words With Friends is No. 42.
The San Francisco social games publisher is working hard to beef up its presence outside of Facebook, looking to mobile platforms in particular. It launched more than 15 games in the last six months and counted 15 million people who play its mobile games at least once a day as of Dec. 31.
But the vast majority of Zynga’s $1.1 billion in annual revenue comes from players on Facebook, prompting Zynga to look to other platforms to grow.
