Late 2009 has been a banner time for games maker ngmoco. Granted, a lot of their success has been leveraged buy Apple giving the green light to microtransactions in free-to-play games on the iPhone, but obviously the ngmoco team had to have a product in the works that would fit this model perfectly – as they did with their recently released Eliminate first person shooter.
Building upon their push for social gaming, ngmoco has made it’s first acquisition, buying out Miraphonic, makers of iPhone and Facebook titles Epic Pet Wars and Epic Soldier Wars.
Announced via twitter from ngmoco CEO Neil Young, “Delighted to announce that Miraphonic, creators of the awesome Epic Pet Wars have been acquired by ngmoco!” No financials of the deal have been disclosed.
Epic Pet Wars is (yet another) virtual animal training and fighting MMO that Miraphonic states has over one million users. Fitting in-line with ngmoco’s strategy, the game is free-to-play/download but monetizes via sales of in-game currency ‘Respect Points’ which are used to purchase virtual goods. Respect points cost anywhere between approx. $1 right through to approximately $40. Miraphonic’s Epic Soldier Wars operates under the same premise.
If ngmoco’s commitment to developing and publishing quality free-to-play/microtransactions monetized social games was in question, this purchase should certainly seal the deal. Clearly, the company’s acquisition of former MySpace SVP of business development, Jason Oberfest, back in September is already starting to pay off. Charged with “negotiating deals to drive revenue and support the launch of innovative new products…”, it’s fair to say that Oberfest can now call his first deal done.
Granted, ngmoco is receiving a bit of press hype as of late, but they’re still swimming in very competitive waters. Social games makers including Zynga and Playfish are still raking in the profits, but it’s good to see an up and coming player in the field, as the next 6-12 months at ngmoco will really put their new business model to the test.
Tags: iphone, Jason Oberfest, MMO, Neil Young, ngmoco, PlayFish, social game, twitter, Zynga
