Jam City (company)
| File:Social Gaming Network Logo.png | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Interactive entertainment, Social network service, Video Games |
| Headquarters | USA/UK |
Number of locations | 6 |
Key people | Chris DeWolfe (CEO) Aber Whitcomb (CTO) Joshua Yguado (President & COO) |
| Products | Cookie Jam, Panda Pop, Panda Jam, Paint Monsters, Book of Life: Sugar Smash, Juice Jam, Genies & Gems, Ninja Jam (coming soon) and Mindjolt Games |
Number of employees | 200 (January 2016)[1] |
| Website | sgn.com |
SGN, formerly known as MindJolt,[2] is a Los Angeles-based casual gaming company.[3] The company was founded in 2011 by Chris DeWolfe, Aber Whitcomb, Colin Digiaro, and Joshua Yguado. Its flagship application (also called MindJolt) was formerly a top 20 application on Facebook. It has about 1,300 games from 1,000 developers.[4]
SGN is one of the major developers and publishers of games on Facebook, iOS, and Android. With a focus on using advertisements and selling virtual goods in-game, SGN utilizes MasterKey—a technology that allows the company to develop the game once and then quickly port it to all major platforms.[5] SGN has totaled over 700 million game downloads,[6] which have also been installed on leading mobile and social platforms, making SGN one of the largest cross-platform gaming companies in the world.[7] SGN is responsible for more than a dozen Top 10 titles on the iTunes App Store and three #1 titles on the Amazon Appstore.[8] SGN's most popular games to date include Cookie Jam and Panda Pop.
History
SGN, then called MindJolt, was originally funded by Austin Ventures[9] and led by a team of Internet pioneers, with the CEO being Chris DeWolfe[10] and CTO being Aber Whitcomb, both co-founders of MySpace.[11]
In 2011, MindJolt acquired Shervin Pishevar's Social Gaming Network,[12] and in February 2012, MindJolt itself was renamed to Social Gaming Network .[2]
In June 2013, SGN acquired Mob Science, a game studio based in Carlsbad, CA.[13]
SGN is based in Los Angeles, with studios in Palo Alto, Buenos Aires, San Francisco, Seattle, and Carlsbad.[6]
In October 2014, SGN announced a partnership with Fox to release the companion game to the theatrical film release The Book of Life (2014_film). The mobile game, called "Book of Life: Sugar Smash" features the artwork and storyline from the film, in addition to audio from the celebrities in the film, including Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, and Christina Applegate.[14]
In December of 2014, game title “Cookie Jam” was named Facebook Game of the Year.[15][16]
In December of 2014, Chinese gaming and technology company, NetEase, announced an exclusive agreement to license the popular match-3 mobile puzzle game, Cookie Jam, across all major app stores in China.[17]
In July of 2015, SGN raised $130 million funding round from Korean gaming giant Netmarble. The funding round will make Netmarble the largest shareholder in SGN, and create a (according to the company) "strategic partnership" through which SGN will help increase Netmarble’s footprint in North America, and Netmarble will assist SGN within several international markets. [18]
In November of 2015, SGN acquired Fat Rascal, a game studio based in Seattle [19]
Social Media
- SGN
- Panda Pop
- Cookie Jam
- Juice Jam
- Sugar Smash: Book of Life
- Paint Monsters
References
- ^ Todd Spangler. "Games Studio SGN Taps Ex-Myspace Marketing Exec Josh Brooks to Make Hollywood Inroads". Variety. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ a b Staff writer (February 28, 2012). "MindJolt Becomes Social Gaming Network". SocalTech. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ Jon Swartz (July 13, 2010). "Life after MySpace: the next project for social network's co-founder". USA Today. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ Michael Arrington (March 3, 2010). "Chris DeWolfe Makes His Move – Raises Big Round, Acquires Gaming Platform MindJolt". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ Kozlowski, Lori (June 12, 2013). "The Science of Social Games". Forbes. New York City: Forbes, Inc. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
- ^ a b Hsu, Dan (June 13, 2013). "Social Gaming Network acquires Mob Science, shares its strategy for growth". VentureBeat. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
- ^ Dean Takahashi (September 14, 2011). "MindJolt gets a third of its revenues from social mobile games". VentureBeat. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ Leena Rao (June 23, 2011). "MindJolt's SGN Studio Launches Social iOS Game Mini Cafe". TechCrunch. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ "Portfolio - Austin Ventures". austinventures.com. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/a-myspace-founder-is-building-again-with-online-games/?_r=1
- ^ Amarendra Bhushan (March 3, 2010). "MySpace founders Chris DeWolfe, Colin Digiaro, and Aber Whitcomb to acquire MindJolt with Austin Ventures partnership". CEOWorld. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
- ^ "Will they laugh this time? Shervin Pishevar predicts social mobile games to dwarf Facebook games". VentureBeat. December 17, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Faughnder, Ryan (June 13, 2013). "Chris DeWolfe's SGN gaming company acquires Mob Science". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles: Tribune Company. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
- ^ "SGN unveils official mobile game for The Book of Life animated film - GamesBeat - Games - by Dean Takahashi". VentureBeat. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "Facebook's best games of 2014 include Cookie Jam, Cower Defense, Bubble Witch 2 Saga, and more - GamesBeat - Games - by Dean Takahashi". VentureBeat. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ "Facebook Names 'Cookie Jam' The New 'Candy Crush' - Business Insider". Business Insider. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^ http://www.cnbc.com/id/102264945
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/technology/netmarble-takes-stake-in-sgn-extending-asias-reach-into-us-mobile-games.html?_r=0
- ^ http://www.seattletimes.com/news/mobile-game-maker-sgn-buys-kirklands-fat-rascal-games/