Kabam bought the authors of Underworld Empire for $90 million
Having earned over $360 million last year, the American company Kabam decided to diversify its business by buying the Phoenix Age studio based in San Francisco.
Pocket Gamer sources claim that the deal cost the publisher $90 million. What did the company acquire for this insane amount?
A studio with 44 people.
Since its foundation in 2009, it has released two hardcore and financially successful titles: Castle Age and Underworld Empire.
Castle Age appeared on Facebook in 2010. In 2011, Phoenix Age, with the help of Kabam, released it on iOS. And since March 2011, the game has been in the box office top 100 of the American App Store. Underworld Empire, released by Phoenix Age in 2012 on its own, is currently in the box office top 20 of the American store.
Now the third title is being developed within the walls of Phoenix Age. It is quite possible that not wanting to lose the studio, which previously brought Kabam a solid profit, Kevin Cho and Co decided to acquire it.
By the way, Kabam likes to absorb companies no less than Zynga. Since 2010, it has acquired six companies. Phoenix Age – became the seventh. Another thing is that, unlike the already mentioned Zynga or EA, the authors of Kingdoms of Camelot, having bought this or that studio, manage to release another hit with its help, and not to close the launched project with a bang.
Kabam is a private company with a staff of more than 750 people. She started as a developer of sports web applications. She became widely known thanks to the hardcore time manager Kindoms of Camelot.Sources:
