Playtika Acquires Casual Games Studio Wooga
Tel Aviv, Israel, December 3rd 2018 — — Leading mobile games company, Playtika, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Wooga, a world-class casual games company.
The Berlin-based studio with over 180 employees develops story-driven casual games in the Puzzle and Hidden Object categories. This acquisition marks a significant step in the execution of the company’s diversification strategy into new game genres. Following the acquisition, half of Playtika’s titles will be casual games.
Playtika’s expansion into new game genres began in October 2017 with its acquisition of casual games company Jelly Button, which has since seen a twelve fold revenue growth. Following that success this acquisition will combine Wooga’s strong creative and story-driven capabilities with Playtika’s scale and data-driven expertise. Also, it will supercharge Wooga’s global growth and position Playtika as a fast-growing player in the casual games arena. Wooga’s CEO Jens Begemann will continue to lead the Wooga team from its Berlin headquarters and the company will continue leveraging the Wooga brand to attract the best talent from around the world.
“We see great opportunities for Playtika in the casual games genre and our acquisition of Wooga firmly positions us for this next phase of our evolution” said Robert Antokol, Playtika’s Founder and CEO. “Playtika’s strengths in live-ops, advanced AI and personalization at scale will serve as a springboard for Wooga’s creativity in ideating and developing winning story-led titles. Together we’ll bring audiences worldwide a whole new level of game experiences that never cease to captivate and engage. Wooga are a driven and passionate team with a strong leadership and we’re thrilled to have them join the Playtika family.”
“This is an amazing day for Wooga. Becoming part of Playtika is opening the next chapter in the history of our company”, said Jens Begemann, Co-founder & CEO of Wooga. “It is a very natural fit for both parties: We have the expertise in creating and launching story-driven casual games, Playtika has the technologies to help us scale and reach new audiences to continue our growth.”
About Playtika
Playtika is a leading gaming company with 22 million monthly active users playing its titles. Founded in 2010, the company was among the first to offer free-to-play social games on social networks and, shortly after, on mobile platforms. The company was also one of the originators
of live game operations. As new trends and technologies continue to disrupt and reshape the games landscape, Playtika continues to diversify its company portfolio and expand into new game genres, creating the most engaging and beloved entertainment experiences for their users. Headquartered in Herzliya, Israel, the company has over two thousand employees in over twelve offices worldwide including Tel-Aviv, London, Montreal, Chicago, Las Vegas, Santa Monica, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Kiev, Bucharest, Minsk, Dnepr and Vinnitsa.
About Wooga
Wooga, founded in 2009, is one of the most popular developers of casual mobile games. Based in Berlin, employees from around the world develop high quality casual games with engaging stories at the core of the experience. Wooga’s aim is to play a memorable and positive part in people’s lives and create joyful moments every day — for players and employees.
Until the acquistion by Playtika Wooga’s investors were Balderton Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Holtzbrinck Ventures and Tenaya Capital.