Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2012/03/22/zynga_bouys_omgpop/
Zynga gets more drawsome
Buys gaming doodler OMGPOP
Posted in On-Prem, 22nd March 2012 01:25 GMT
Zynga’s acquisitive ways have resulted in the purchase of emerging social gaming developer Omgpop, the creators of the popular doodling app Draw Something.
While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, reports speculate that the price tag was in the US$200 million range and if correct make it Zynga’s largest acquisition ever, by a long shot.
The founder of Omgpop Dan Porter, CEO described the future collaboration with Zynga as “going to be drawsome.”
Omgpop, based in New York, has around 35 other social games, but struck iPhone gold with the recently launched Draw Something. The app attracted 35 million downloads in the first six weeks of launching and in the last week, over one billion drawings have been created.
Under the deal Omgpop’s Chief Executive Officer Dan Porter will become vice president and general manager of Zynga New York.
The app went from averaging the creation of three drawings per second the day it launched to the current 3,000 drawings per second. “Zynga offered us a chance to focus on Draw Something — they know the power of the game and they planned with us how to let it keep rolling in the same fun, irreverent, social way that it has been. The game will stay true to you and what you love, and it’s my solemn vow that the magic of Draw Something will not change. Our new partners at Zynga know how to innovate at scale, and they’re pushing the limits of social with their mobile games,” Porter said.
Draw Something is the number one word game in 84 countries according to the Apple app store. Zynga’s penchant for buying starts up has led to the acquisition of 22 different companies to date with a combined investment of $147.2 million. These purchases include: Area/Code, Newtoy, XPD in Beijing;Challenge Games, Unoh Games in Tokyo;cConduit Labs;Dextrose AG in Frankfurt; Bonfire Studios and Flock in Menlo Park.