Scopely, the Culver City-based mobile games unicorn, announced Tuesday that it has acquired the game development studio PierPlay, also based in Culver City. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal culminates a close partnership that began in 2016 when Scopely turned to PierPlay to help develop a Scrabble game to compete with with Zynga's popular Words with Friends, an off-brand word game that Hasbro has been trying to shut down since it launched in 2009.
<p>Scrabble GO launched in 150 countries last month, becoming the biggest word game launch ever, though it still trails Word with Friends on Apple's app store. </p><p>"Our goal is always to have the best team in the world build a game, where it's internal or external," Tim O'Brien, Scopely's chief revenue officer, told dot.LA. "We knew these guys were a great team. We were always planning on acquiring the studio."</p><p>O'Brien says the deal was underway long before the coronavirus, but a pandemic that has everyone stuck at home and only able to connect with friends virtually is ideal for the addictive Scrabble GO and Scopely's larger portfolio, which has seen revenue increase 10% since before the virus.</p>
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<p>"The timing couldn't have been better for us to launch," said O'Brien. "People are downloading more games and playing games longer. For a game like Scrabble GO that's highly social and highly competitive, it's the perfect game right now for people to play."<br></p><p>One concern is that Scopely makes a substantial amount of money from advertising, which is threatened as struggling companies reduce their marketing spend. But O'Brien says rates have already recovered after a brief dip last month.</p><p>Before the pandemic sent workers home, many of PierPlay's 25 employees were already working at Scopely's headquarters on a new game that has yet to be announced. PierPlay co-founder and Chief Executive Lorenzo Nuvoletta will continue to manage the game studio.</p>
<p>"The success we've seen with Scrabble GO has been amazing and we look forward to tackling more exciting projects in the development slate," Nuvoletta said in a statement. Scopely says more than 2.5 million people are playing Scrabble GO daily, with the average session lasting over 100 minutes per day.<br/></p>Scopely is currently valued at $1.9 billion, according to Pitchbook data, and has 800 employees. Last month, <a href="https://dot.la/scopely-raises-additional-200-million-2645525717.html" target="_self">it raised an additional $200 million in Series D funding,</a> doubling the total round to $400M.From Your Site Articles
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Scopely, the Culver City-based mobile games unicorn, confirmed Wednesday it has raised an additional $200 million in Series D funding, doubling the total round to $400M. The capital comes from Advance, a private family-owned business that invests in a broad range of media and technology companies and The Chernin Group, a consumer-focused investment firm.
<p>"The FoxNext Games acquisition earlier this year further reinforced our commitment to M&A, and the opportunity to partner with these longtime media experts was a welcome addition to further support our strategy, Javier Ferreira, Scopely co-CEO, said in a statement. "With these key partners, we will be able to continue to pursue an even larger and more diverse slate of immersive, dynamic game experiences than we have today. In a time where interactive, social connection and entertainment is more important than ever, we remain committed to delivering rewarding games for all players to enjoy."</p><p>The additional financing has been in the works for several months – long before the novel coronavirus was a major concern – and was completed earlier this year. Regulators approved the deal this week.</p><p><a href="https://dot.la/scopely-board-tim-obrien-2645454414.html" target="_blank">As a maker of mobile games,</a> Scopely would seem to be well-positioned for the social distancing era, but the company has stopped short of making any such pronouncements, preferring to go with a more restrained tone. </p><p>"While under normal circumstances we would celebrate this milestone broadly, our thoughts are focused on the wellbeing of our employees, their families, our players and all of our communities," Ferreira and co-CEO Walter Driver wrote. </p><p>An Advance representative will join Scopely's Board of Directors while a TCG representative will now serve as a Board Observer. UBS Investment Bank served as exclusive financial advisor to Advance and Paul Hastings LLP served as its legal advisor. </p><p>Founded in 2011, Scopely's mobile game franchise now includes Scrabble® GO, MARVEL Strike Force, Star Trek™ Fleet Command, Looney Tunes™ World of Mayhem, WWE Champions, The Walking Dead: Road To Survival™, YAHTZEE® With Buddies and Wheel of Fortune®: Free Play.</p><p>Scopely is currently valued at $1.7 billion, according to Pitchbook data, and has 800 employees.</p>
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The Culver City mobile game unicorn, Scopely, announced Wednesday that Chief Revenue Officer Tim O'Brien has been appointed to the company's board of directors. Since he joined Scopely in 2014, the company has grown from 50 to 800 employees and reached a $1.7 billion valuation.
"My time at Scopely has been the highlight of my professional career, and I'm really proud of the tremendous growth we've achieved," O'Brien told dot.LA in an e-mail. "The business has scaled 35x over these last six years, and I continue to be energized every day to come to work and tackle new challenges with all of my Scopely partners."
<p>Prior to Scopely, O'Brien served as Vice President of worldwide business development at <a href="https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/" target="_blank">Disney Interactive</a>. Before that he was Vice President of business development at Tapulous, which was acquired by Walt Disney Co. during his tenure. </p><p>"Tim has been instrumental in driving our strategy and teams, building the culture and organization upon which Scopely has grown into a global leader in mobile games, including the company's Studio Ecosystem, publishing model, and key IP partnerships with a diverse set of licensors," said Scopely co-CEO & Board Member Javier Ferreira in a press release. "We could not have accomplished what we have the last six years without him, and I am thrilled to formally have his voice on our Board."</p><p>O'Brien said it was too soon to know what the effect on COVID-19 would be on the company's upcoming performance, or whether users would be more likely to play video games during times when human contact is discouraged. </p><p>"We're continuing to follow the guidelines stipulated by core organizations in each market, including the CDC and the World Health Organization, and have already encouraged employees to work remotely when necessary," O'Brien said. "We also owe it to our players around the world to keep the experiences they love up and running -- a priority every Scopely employee is aligned on."</p><p>Last week, Scopely launched <a href="https://scopely.com/blog/get-ready-to-spell-f-u-n-scrabble-go-is-now-available-worldwide/" target="_blank">Scrabble Go</a>, which O'Brien says will be a key driver of growth. </p><p>"It represents a new relationship with Mattel (who owns the rights to the Scrabble brand internationally) and deepens our relationship with Hasbro, our partner on Yahtzee With Buddies -- one of our most successful titles five years post-launch," O'Brien said. "The game reimagines a classic AAA IP that is widely beloved for a broad audience -- from competitive superfans to casual social players."</p>
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