Will RockYou’s Acquisition of Playdemic Keep Them Up to Pace?
Social gaming runner-up RockYou just made it to the headlines today via the acquisition of UK-based social game developer, Playdemic. Enclosed in the deal is that Playdemic will operate autonomously as Playdemic—which will now be classified as a RockYou Studio.
After the announcement, Jonathan Knight, RockYou’s SVP of Games welcomes Playdemic into their backyard. He said, “At RockYou we place great value on the art of game-making, and we’re elated to welcome the Playdemic team into our studio system. Playdemic will retain their culture and creative control, as they bring their significant game industry experience to making social games of today and tomorrow.”
Playdemic is set to develop games for popular social network Facebook, an area where RockYou really made its name. Currently, this company has the renowned title Gourmet Ranch under its belt, and is expected to bring in more exciting games to the social network. This acquisition just placed RockYou in the map of social gaming competition, and gives it more ammo to challenge the formidable leader in the industry, Zynga.
In an article by Maria Deutscher, she took note that in addition to growth of social gaming seen to reach the $1 billion dollar-mark this year, is also changing on the Zynga front—which made eight acquisitions in 2010 and is one of the most visible items in last year’s tech news and deals. The company was pretty aggressive for these past few months, and has invaded Facebook and other social and casual gaming sites. In fact, it pushed for a larger mobile presence through its purchase of Newtoy. a Texas-based company that creates games for iOS devices. Zynga also expanded globally, with a localized launch in China and another acquisition of Conduit Labs—a Boston-based social gaming developer.
In a similar report, RockYou says “…it will try and grow the user base for Gourmet Ranch, Playdemic’s first title that is currently playable on Facebook with half a million monthly active users. In the game, players can grow organic crops, raise animals and prepare and serve meals to their friends.” This transaction is a testament that RockYou is serious in taking the next bold steps to keep up with the pace of the competition.
A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:
Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.
- 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
- 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.
Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.
