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In the News
June 24, 2010: Playdom Continues Shopping Spree
Playdom Continues Shopping Spree; Acquires Social Gaming Startup Hive7
Leena Rao, TechCrunch
Fresh off a $33 million funding round, Playdom is making its fifth acquisition of the year today. The gaming giant is buying social gaming startup Hive7. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Hive7, which is backed by True Ventures and was founded in 2005, develops social games for Facebook and MySpace. The startup is best known for its flagship game, Knighthood, which combines combat and diplomacy in a medieval setting. Other titles include Youtopia, Kick-Off, and Sindicate. Hive 7's developers and team have already joined Playdom�s Mountain View offices.
June 24, 2010: Playdom Adds $33 Million
Playdom Adds $33 Million to Its Funding
Eric Caoili, Gamasutra
Social game developer Playdom raised $33 million in venture capital financing from new backers Bessemer Venture Partners, New World Ventures, and Steamboat Ventures, the last of which is The Walt Disney Company's investment fund for digital media, consumer, and technology companies in the U.S. and Asia.
May 19, 2010: ESPN Drafts Playdom to Build Social Games
ESPN Drafts Playdom to Build Social Games
Chris Morrison, Inside Social Games
ESPN is planning to take a slice of the professional sports market on Facebook and other social networks. The broadcaster announced today that it has signed a two-year deal with Playdom to build games, starting with two planned for the near future.
May 19, 2010: Playdom Launches Treetopia
Playdom Combines City-Building, Quests and Nature in Treetopia
Christopher Mack, Inside Social Games
The folks over at Playdom have launched a brand new title of the tribal, tree-hugging, city-building variety: The serene new Facebook application Treetopia.
At first glance, Treetopia is a city builder, but its premise and a number of mechanics make this particular title much more interesting than many of the watered down SimCity clones. In short, the objective is to save Treetopia and guide your own personal tribe of nature-conscious people to becoming a flourishing society beneath the canopy of a great tree.
The game goes beyond city-building, incorporating characters in quests to create a deeper gaming experience.
May 10, 2010: Social Gaming Alliances Gain Pace
Social Gaming Alliances Gain Pace
David Gelles, Financial Times
The multi-billion dollar industry that has built up around "social gaming" - casual video games played on social networking websites - is rapidly consolidating.
Hundreds of small software development studios have sprung up in the past two years to create the games, but a few large companies are beginning to dominate the market.
April 20, 2010: Social Gaming Has an Even Bigger Future
Inside Social Apps 2010: Social Gaming Has an Even Bigger Future
Chris Morrison, Inside Social Games
The Inside Social Apps 2010 conference kicked off this morning with a panel of top social gaming executives: Peter Relan, chairman of CrowdStar; Keith Rabois, executive VP at Slide; Vish Makhijani, COO of Zynga; Kavin Stewart, VP of product at LOLapps; and John Pleasants, the CEO of Playdom.
Inside Social Gaming's Eric Eldon moderated, and got some interesting answers from the panelists about monetization, international markets, the next big hit and more.
April 20, 2010: Investors Talk Acquisitions and Opportunities
Inside Social Apps 2010: Investors Talk Big Acquisitions and Mixed Opportunities
Eric Eldon, Inside Social Games
Inside Social Apps 2010 ended today with a panel on investing opportunities in social applications and games. While most of the investors weren’t too bullish on the short-term opportunities for small developers, they do believe there are all sorts of short and long term opportunities.
April 19, 2010: Startups Find Room to Run
Startups Find Room to Run on Crowded Social Web
Olga Kharif, BusinessWeek
Playdom's co-founders—Yue; co-founder Chris Wang, 26; and Ling Xiao, 28-year-old vice-president of engineering and co-founder—are among the finalists in BusinessWeek.com's annual Best Young Technology Entrepreneurs showcase. Seven of the 13 startups on this year's list are building Web and mobile-device software that extend the capabilities of social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.
March 31, 2010: Playdom Acquires Three Melons
Playdom Acquires Three Melons Social Game Company in Argentina
Vinod Sreeharsha, VentureBeat
Playdom’s General Counsel Brad Serwin said in an interview that his company is bullish on social game talent in Argentina. He added, “There seems to be a style there (in game development) different from what is seen in the U.S., which adds a dimension to our game design and art.”
March 22, 2010: The Economics of Facebook Games
The Economics of Facebook Games
Nick O'Neill, Social Times
Last week at SXSW, John Pleasants, CEO of Playdom, spoke about “The Future Of Social Gaming”, but the greatest takeaway was the current economics of Facebook Games. If you are looking to get into the business or are already a player in the space, there were a number of important facts disclosed by Pleasants. What’s clear is that the business is a smaller version of the movie industry with the difference being that games can be improved as users interact with them.
March 16, 2010: Playdom Invests $5 Million in MetroGames
Social Gaming Startup MetroGames Gets A $5 Mllion Infusion From Playdom
Leena Rao, TechCrunch
Argentinean social gaming company MetroGames, has just raised $5 million in series A funding from game developer Playdom. According to a release, the investment will be used to expand MetroGames’ development of games and its social gaming platform. Playdom’s CEO, John Pleasants will join MetroGames’ board.
March 03, 2010: Inside Social Games Review: Social City
Playdom constructs Its Own Facebook City Builder: Social City
Christopher Mack, Inside Social Games
Aesthetically, the game looks great, and as an added bonus, players start with a respectable amount of money to get their city started and looking very nice. Most games don’t give the players enough, and it can be hard to keep them playing if they have to wait three days to make their virtual space look half decent. Social City, however, has immediate reward. Furthermore, this city actually feels alive. Sadly, there are no cars, but tiny residents actually walk about, hawk wares outside stores, mow lawns, and even work in the factories.
March 02, 2010: Wild Ones Review
Wild Ones Review
Jim Squires, GameZebo
Wild Ones is really, really good....A Worms-style game lives and dies by two things: level design and weapon selection. Wild Ones excels at both. Each new map you unlock will feature new layouts with distinct advantages and disadvantages. What’s great is that these advantages and disadvantages usually allow for interesting uses of your weaponry.
December 21, 2009: Try Some Tropical Farming with Tiki Farm!
Cold this Winter? Try Some Tropical Farming with Tiki Farm!
Christopher Mack, Inside Social Games
While games such as FarmVille and Farm Town are currently going the winter wonderland route (in terms of virtual goods) a new farming title from Playdom is taking a different approach. Many are probably wishing for a nice, warm tropical setting now that we’re getting deeper into winter. So, Tiki Farm, one of the developer’s most recent titles, is here to help make that wish come true.
December 18, 2009: Wild Ones, a Social Take on Worms
Another New Playdom Game Surfaces: Wild Ones, a Social Take on Worms
Christopher Mack, Inside Social Games
What the new app does have that is distinctive, is that players are actually able to customize their avatar and even change its animal type. When you start out, all you have is a plain looking dog, but as you play and level up you will unlock a rabbit, panda, and monkey template for purchase (using currency you gain periodically or purchase). Moreover, higher levels also have greater access to purchasable weapons and more intricate level maps.
December 09, 2009: Playdom Hires Former Tech Analyst As CFO
Playdom Hires Former Tech Analyst Quarles As CFO
Eric Caoili
Mountain View, California-based social game developer Playdom hired Christa Quarles, previously the internet services managing director at investment banking firm Thomas Weisel Partners, as its chief financial officer.
November 12, 2009: Playdom Buys Green Patch and Trippert Labs
Playdom Buys Green Patch and Trippert Labs � On the Way to IPO?
Eric Eldon
Playdom, the largest social game developer on MySpace and one of the larger ones on Facebook, has confirmed a couple purchases we’ve been hearing rumors about recently. It has bought Facebook game developer Green Patch, as well as iPhone developer Trippert Labs, both for undisclosed amounts.
November 12, 2009: Playdom Gets Acquisitive
Playdom Gets Acquisitive
Gabriel Madway
Fresh on the heels of its $43 million financing round, social gaming company Playdom announced a pair of acquisitions Thursday in a move to expand its portfolio of games. It acquired Facebook game developer Green Patch and Trippert Labs, which develops games on Apple’s iPhone. Terms of the deal were not released.
November 11, 2009: Playdom Raises Big New Round
Playdom Raises Big New Round
Eric Eldon
Social gaming company Playdom has been looking at raising a big round of funding since this spring, but now it is closing one worth up to $70 million at up to a $300 million valuation, industry sources tell us. The investors include NEA, we hear — although the company isn’t commenting. [Update: TechCrunch has the details. The company has raised $43 million on a $260 million pre-money valuation, with New Enterprise Associates, company chairman Rick Thompson, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Norwest Venture Partners participating.]
November 06, 2009: Virtual Goods Start Bringing Real Paydays
Virtual Goods Start Bringing Real Paydays
Claire Cain Miller and Brad Stone
Wendy Pickering of Columbus, Ohio, plays Sorority Life, a game in which players create and dress groups of co-eds... Ms. Pickering has paid more than $30 in the last few months to buy the game’s virtual currency, called Brownie Points, which she has used on items like the Miss America tiara and hair, and the Cinco de Mayo party outfit, which included a sombrero.
August 19, 2009: GDC Europe: Making Social Games More Viral
GDC Europe: Playdom's Meretzky On Making Social Games More Viral
Thomas Inman, Gamasutra
Steve Meretzky, VP Game Design at Playdom, spoke at GDC Europe this Tuesday on the key elements required in creating a successful social game. The talk focused on how to achieve virality and cash flow in a rapidly emerging market.
August 13, 2009: Social Gaming Draws Developers In
Social Gaming Draws Developers In
Paul Hyman, Gamasutra
Indeed, the opportunities in social gaming were also apparent to a few high-profile execs, like former Electronic Arts COO John Pleasants who, last July, became CEO of Playdom, a social gaming studio that had already claimed Steve Meretzky.
August 07, 2009: Social gaming startup eyes big opportunity
Social gaming startup eyes big opportunity
Gabriel Madway, Reuters
Playdom, which was launched last year but only emerged from stealth mode in March, recently made a big splash when it lured John Pleasants from his perch as COO of Electronic Arts to become its CEO. Playdom battles rivals Zynga—which predicts revenue of $100 million or more this year—and Playfish in an increasingly competitive space.
August 04, 2009: Playdom launches second-generation...
Playdom launches second-generation Mobsters game
Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat
Playdom’s Mobsters 2: Vendetta, is debuting today on Facebook. The game is the first major follow-up to the Mountain View, Calif.-based company’s Mobsters game, which has been a monster hit on MySpace with 13.5 million users, but which also faces tough competition on Facebook.
July 21, 2009: Playdom Extends #1 MySpace Game...
Playdom Extends #1 MySpace Game �Mobster' to The iPhone
Jason Kincaid, TechCrunch
It’s been just under one year since social-gaming startup Playdom launched Mobsters, which has grown to become the #1 game on MySpace with 13.5 million total installs. Now, the company is taking the incredibly popular game mobile with its first iPhone App, dubbed Mobsters: Big Apple. And while it may not be the first such mafia-related game on the iPhone, it still has a few tricks up its sleeve that could turn it into a major hit.
June 19, 2009: Stop Ignoring This Startup
Stop Ignoring This Startup
Nicholas Carlson, Silicon Alley Insider
Mark Pincus's social gaming startup Zynga gets a lot of press for its projected $100 million 2009 revenues, but Playdom is the other startup in the rapidly developing space you have to know, too.
June 18, 2009: Top Execs Abandon Consoles for Social Gaming
Top Execs Abandon Consoles for Social Gaming
Chris Nuttall, Financial Times Tech Blog
Electronic Arts has just announced that John Pleasants, its chief operating officer and president of global publishing, is leaving the company. His destination is the chief executive role at Playdom, the leading social game developer on MySpace.
June 18, 2009: No. 2 Electronic Arts exec John Pleasants...
No. 2 Electronic Arts exec John Pleasants on his defection to hot startup Playdom
Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat
Anyone doubting that social gaming is the next big growth area for the video-game industry should note which way top executives in the industry are moving.
May 28, 2009: Playdom Grows Up
Playdom Grows Up: Switches to Studio Model, Lands Top Talent
Leena Rao, TechCrunch
Playdom, a popular social gaming developer on MySpace, is moving to a studio model, similar to the model of competitor Zynga. Playdom has largely flown under our radar until now, but they’ve built up some very popular social networking apps on MySpace, and are also moving to Facebook as well.
May 06, 2009: Facebook, MySpace Gamemakers Turn to iPhone
Facebook, MySpace Gamemakers Turn to iPhone
Nate Ralph, Wired.com
Playdom and Playfish, two companies that boast the most popular games on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, have a new target for their communication-centric games: iPhone.
March 11, 2009: Playdom, Developer of 8 of the Top 25...
Playdom, Developer of 8 of the Top 25 Games on MySpace, Preparing for Facebook Assault
Justin Smith, Inside Facebook
Playdom, the developer of the #1 game on MySpace and 8 of the top 25, is coming out of stealth mode tonight. The company has 37 employees—with plans to be at 100 by the end of the year—and is already profitable. They’ve raised no money, and co-founders Dan Yue, Rick Thompson, Chris Wang, and Ling Xiao say they don’t have plans to do so, due to a successful monetization strategy through a mix of virtual goods.
March 11, 2009: Playdom Launches Games on Facebook...
Playdom Launches Games on Facebook Platform
Chris Caceres, Vator News
Playdom, a social gaming company, today announced they are expanding their games from MySpace to Facebook. Currently, the Mountain View, Ca.-based company, is the most highly ranked game developer on MySpace.
March 11, 2009: Playdom Reveals Itself as the Developer of...
Playdom Reveals Itself as the Developer of the #1 Game on MySpace
Justin Smith, Inside Social Games
The developer of the #1 game on MySpace, and 8 of the top 25 games on the MySpace application platform, is emerging from stealth mode tonight, and we have all the details here on Inside Social Games.
March 10, 2009: Playdom Expands from MySpace Games to...
Playdom Expands from MySpace Games to Facebook
Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat
Playdom, formerly known as YouPlus, built its own little empire as one of the leading makers of games for the MySpace social network. Now the company hopes it can repeat that success on Facebook.
Now it will battle against some entrenched opponents on Facebook and learn whether it was lucky, or good, when it dominated MySpace.
March 10, 2009: Game Startups SuperSecret and Playdom...
Game Startups SuperSecret and Playdom Show Strength in Weak Economy
Scott Duke Harris, San Jose Mercury News
Today's dispatch comes from the front lines of a business battlefield where digital superheroes, mobsters, space aliens, vampires, meter maids and sorority sisters are struggling to win hearts, minds and money.
Press Releases
July 29, 2010: Playdom and Harrah's Launch Official WSOP Game
Playdom and Harrah's Interactive Entertainment Launch The Official World Series of Poker Game on Facebook and Other Social Networks
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment, Inc. (HIE) has entered into an agreement with Playdom, Inc. a Mountain View, California-based social games company, with more than 46 million active monthly users across their network of games.
Playdom will re-launch its existing online poker game, Poker Palace, by re-branding the Facebook game with the “World Series of Poker” brand and will work with the HIE team to create one of the most fun and social poker games available on social networks.
July 27, 2010: Disney Announced Acquisition of Playdom
The Walt Disney Company to Acquire Leading Social Game Developer Playdom
BURBANK, Calif. — Advancing on its goal of bringing consumers its well-known stories, characters and brands in ever more engaging ways, The Walt Disney Company has agreed to acquire Playdom Inc., one of the leading companies in the fast-growing business of online social gaming.
In just two and a half years of operation, Playdom has established itself as a pacesetter in building popular games for social networks enjoyed by consumers around the globe. Through well-known titles like Social City, Sorority Life, Market Street and Bola, Playdom engages an estimated 42 million active players each month.
July 08, 2010: Playdom Announces Acquisition of Metaplace
Playdom Announces Acquisition of Metaplace, Inc.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today it has acquired Metaplace, Inc., a privately held social gaming technology and game design company based in San Diego, California.
Raph Koster and John Donham founded their virtual world game engine development studio after leaving Sony Online Entertainment in 2006, following their groundbreaking work on such games as Star Wars Galaxies and Everquest II. For the last three years Metaplace has focused on building state-of-the-art virtual world and social gaming technology leading to the launch of the company’s first social games “Island Life” and “My Vineyard” in early 2010.
June 24, 2010: Playdom Announces Acquisition of Hive7
Playdom Announces Acquisition of Hive7
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today it has acquired Hive7.com, Inc., a privately held social gaming startup based in Palo Alto, California. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
June 22, 2010: Playdom Announces $33M in Financing
Playdom Announces $33,000,000 in Additional Financing
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today it had raised an additional $33,000,000 in venture capital financing. Joining Playdom<92>s existing cadre of venture capital backers are Bessemer Venture Partners, Steamboat Ventures, and New World Ventures.
May 18, 2010: Playdom Announces Acquisition of Acclaim
Playdom Announces Acquisition of Acclaim Games Inc.
MOUNTAIN VIEW and LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, and Acclaim Games, a developer of social networking and downloadable casual games, announced today that Playdom has acquired Acclaim. Since its establishment in 2006 under one of the gaming industry’s most recognizable brands, Acclaim has built a name for itself in the casual and MMORPG gaming space by developing and publishing free-to-play titles available on the Acclaim website (www.acclaim.com).
April 26, 2010: Playdom Announces Acquisition of Merscom
Playdom Announces Acquisition of Social Game Developer Merscom, LLC
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today the continuation of its roll-up of talented social gaming development teams with the acquisition of Merscom, LLC. Privately held Merscom develops online and social games for third parties with nationally recognized brands. Merscom is currently developing games for Sea World, Purina, National Geographic and NBC Universal. Merscom is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Playdom plans to leverage Mercom’s expertise in working with IP owners as Playdom moves to develop partnerships with powerful global brands. Playdom also plans to use the acquisition to leverage the talented North Carolina game development community. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
April 19, 2010: Playdom Announces David Sobeski as CTO
Playdom Announces David Sobeski as Chief Technology Officer
David served as a Senior Vice President at Yahoo! delivering Yahoo!'s Open Strategy and Data platform as well as driving products and innovation for the CEO. In addition, David drove Yahoo to open its network to 3rd parties to drive social integration into Yahoo!. Prior to joining to Yahoo!, David served in various executive roles at Microsoft ranging from driving the experience of Windows Vista, to delivering mobility into Microsoft Exchange Server to driving the technical strategy with the CTO. David also was a leader in MSN.com, the creation of Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine and the creation of Internet Explorer. David has also been an advisor to various technology companies to deliver great products throughout the years.
March 31, 2010: Playdom Announces Acquisition of Three Melons
Playdom Announces Acquisition of Three Melons
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today it has acquired Three Melons, a premier developer of online games. Three Melons was privately held and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
March 03, 2010: Offbeat Creations Acquisition
Playdom Announces Acquisition of Offbeat Creations, Inc.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today it has acquired Facebook developer Offbeat Creations, Inc., a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software on social media platforms. Offbeat Creations was privately held and is based in Bellevue, Wash. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
December 10, 2009: Playdom Names Christa Quarles as CFO
Playdom Names Christa Quarles as Chief Financial Officer
Playdom, a leading social game developer, announced today the appointment of Christa Quarles as chief financial officer (CFO). In her new role, effective immediately, Quarles will be responsible for overseeing the company’s fiscal management and forecasting. The former managing director of Thomas Weisel Partners Group will be a key member of Playdom's executive team and participate in overall strategic planning. She will report directly to chief executive officer John Pleasants.
November 12, 2009: Playdom Announces Acquisitions
Playdom Announces Acquisitions of Green Patch and Trippert Labs
Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today it has acquired well-known Facebook developer Green Patch, Inc., and Trippert Labs, an experienced iPhone and social game developer. Both companies were privately held; Green Patch is based in Palo Alto, Calif., and Trippert Labs is based in Menlo Park, Calif. The terms of both transactions were not disclosed.
November 11, 2009: Playdom Raises $43M in Series A Funding
Playdom Raises $43M in Series A Funding
Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today that it has closed $43 million of financial investments as part of its Series A financing. The investment, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), along with Playdom chairman Rick Thompson, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), will be used to finance strategic acquisitions and expand the company’s pipeline of market-leading games.
September 30, 2009: Playdom Fuels Its Virtual Goods Business
Playdom Fuels Its Virtual Goods Business
Playdom, a leading social games developer, announced today that it is launching a line of prepaid cards that can be used to purchase virtual goods in its popular games, including Mobsters 2: Vendetta and Sorority Life. The cards will be available for purchase starting in mid-October at Target, as well as at Walgreens and additional nationwide retailers later this year.
August 05, 2009: Revenge, Mobsters Style
Revenge, Mobsters Style
Playdom, a leading social games developer, today announced the release of Mobsters 2: Vendetta on Facebook. Mobsters 2: Vendetta is the first sequel to a major social game and comes on the heels of the company’s launch of Mobsters: Big Apple, the first iPhone mafia game linked to a social net.
June 18, 2009: Playdom Names John Pleasants CEO
Playdom Names John Pleasants CEO
Playdom, a leading social game developer, today announced that John Pleasants has accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer. The Former President, Global Publishing and Chief Operating Officer of Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA), Pleasants brings a deep understanding of the gaming industry and significant experience scaling high-growth organizations to Playdom.
May 27, 2009: Playdom Moves to Studio Model and Hires...
Fueled by Business Growth, Playdom Continues Rapid Expansion
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Playdom, a leading social gaming company and the largest game developer on MySpace, announced the move to a studio model. The move is fueled by rapid growth of its popular games on MySpace and Facebook, including Mobsters, Sorority Life and Poker Palace. To head up the two studios, which are based in Mountain View, CA, Playdom has hired industry veterans Dave Rohrl - from Zynga - and Sean Clark - from Electronic Arts (EA) - as Executive Producers. Rohrl will oversee a studio focused on new intellectual property; Clark will oversee a studio focused on role-playing games or RPGS.
March 11, 2009: Playdom: Until Now, the Best-Kept Secret in..
Playdom: Until Now, the Best-Kept Secret in Social Gaming
Business Wire Press Release
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced its new corporate brand and line-up of popular gaming applications. Playdom is currently the largest game developer on MySpace and has a growing presence on the Facebook Platform. In addition, the company plans to launch its first iPhone application...