An HTML5 game publisher announced this week that it has acquired a Los Angeles-based game network that will ultimately provide it with approximately six million additional active users.
According to analysis of the situation at PocketGamer.biz, HTML5 game developer BoosterMedia has acquired Hallpass Media from SGN (News – Alert) in a deal that consisted entirely of a cash transaction.
Hallpass has reportedly been going through a period of rapid expansion where it has grown more than 50 percent over the past three years, so its appeal to developers such as BoosterMedia should come as no surprise to anyone involved in the business of gaming or in business practices overall.
Businesses follow the money and the subscribers.
The acquisition will award BoosterMedia with online sites to the likes of girlgames.com, cookinggames.com, and wordgames.com — the places where its millions of new subscribers already reside.
Laurens Rutten, founder and CEO of BoosterMedia, explains that the deal will allow the company to not only increase its base but also will extend its reach into the realm of smartphones and tablets.
"We live in a multi-platform world and, with this acquisition, BoosterMedia not only doubles its reach among casual gamers worldwide, but also gains strong Web gaming brands that we plan to extend to smartphones as well as tablets," Rutten said.
"The benefits of this deal are three-fold. Our HTML5 game-developer community will now get access to a much larger audience; advertisers will be able to reach 12 million engaged casual gamers each month across multiple platforms; and our game-distribution partners will benefit from more and better titles," Rutten continued.
PocketGamer notes that this acquisition is part of the BoosterMedia step toward "world domination." Although Rutten does not describe it so forcefully — simply referring to the company's expansion as one of trying to become a "world leader" — the semantics used in the conversation are less important than the reality of the situation where BoosterMedia is beefing up its selection of games and solidifying its place in the world of HTML5 gaming.
Various reports about the global market of mobile gaming indicate that the popularity of the medium is rising in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It appears that the proliferation of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets precedes a rise in mobile gaming. Naturally, that progression makes sense, but the numbers show that mobile device usage is spreading, so endeavors such as those in which BoosterMedia is engaging appear to be more worthwhile not only on a national level — making deals with U.S. gaming companies — but on a global scale as well.
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi