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Zynga picks up four more mobile gaming companies
Mobile/social game giant Zynga has made four more acquisitions in mobile gaming, having already picked up quite a few iOS and mobile development companies in the past. This time around, the biggest pickup is a company from Germany named Gamedoctors, makers of the very popular ZombieSmash title. Page44 Studios is the second purchase. They did work on the also very popular mobile version of World of Goo (though Page44 isn't the actual developer of the original game; that's 2D Boy). Hiplogic and Astro Ape Studios are the last two purchases, each with their own libraries of a few mobile titles. Zynga is building up quite a library of mobile developers and their titles, though we're not actually sure why yet. Most of the developers Zynga has acquired haven't actually put many other titles out on the App Store. Presumably all of these developers are working on something, and Zynga will probably use its new acquisitions to expand its social expertise into the mobile space as well, but the company's strategy hasn't become clear. Stockholders are waiting on that strategy. The company had its IPO late last year at $10, but since then the stock has foundered and sits at just below $9. If Zynga wants to get that stock price rolling, Wall Street will want to see some action out of all of this spending.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Gamedoctors
Being a giant, beloved video game blog has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we're giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Matthias Hoechsmann of German developer Gamedoctors. The studio (chock full of actual doctors) has just launched its first title, an iPhone/iPod Touch game called ZombieSmash!. How did your company get started? The Gamedoctors story is quite different to the much-seen "team of seasoned game industry veterans creating an iPhone game" story. We are, in fact, seasoned Ph.D-honored scientists who grew up with games and just want to bring our own fresh perspective to the iPhone and other platforms (get the company name, eh?). Why did you want to make games? There are a lot of ways to answer that question but I think when you boil it down, the "why" is much the same for everyone who got into this business. We love games. We have some ideas that haven't been done before, and we're taking matters into our own hands to make them come to life. Or, in the case of ZombieSmash!, unlife!
