Ngmoco buys Stumptown Game Machine, EA and Gameloft report revenue growth
A few news items from the business side of iPhone games this week, courtesy of the folks over at Mobile Entertainment. Ngmoco has purchased developer Stumptown Game Machine, creators of their popular Touch Pets Dogs release. Unfortunately, there's no information on how much the deal was worth, but it's a pretty obvious pickup for Ngmoco, which is working on building a stable of freemium titles and developers to produce them.
My money's still on an Ngmoco/Booyah deal at some point, too -- Ngmoco has the money to pick up a few other smaller developers thanks to funding, and Booyah has the app and the dedicated users that Ngmoco wants. The two companies have already collaborated with a MyTown promotion on Ngmoco's We Rule, but I can see it going farther eventually.
Elsewhere, EA Mobile reported a big growth in profits over the last quarter, up 12% year-over-year. The company attributes revenues to the iPhone and, soon, the iPad -- EA had two of the top three grossing titles as the iPad launched in Need for Speed and Scrabble, even though those sales will count towards next quarter's profits. While indie games have found their own place on the iPhone, many of the biggest titles are still produced by larger studios like EA.
Gamevil also saw a nice jump in profits (up a whopping 99% from last year), and also credits its growth to the App Store, supported by Android and other mobile phone markets. Zenonia and its sequel were drivers there, along with sales overseas and the company's Baseball Superstars title. Lots and lots of sales coming out of the App Store, and I'm sure a new phone in June won't hurt things at all.
