Oberon Media acquiring I-play

Casual mobile game publisher I-play was snapped up by online game company Oberon Media for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is part of Oberon's plan to offer an integrated casual gaming experience across multiple platforms. I-play's brand name and its CEO David Gosen, will remain intact--Gosen will serve as head of Oberon's new mobile games business worldwide. Oberon also took the opportunity to announce a new round of fundraising, led by Goldman Sachs, Oak Investment Partners and Lehman Brothers.

Oberon Media CEO Tomer Ben-Kiki said I-play and Oberon were a "natural fit" because of I-play's focus on casual mobile games. "Mobile is the largest space for casual games and I-play gives us the ability to innovate faster," Ben-Kiki said in an interview with FierceGameBiz. "When we think about that triple-play element that talks about games coming to PC television and mobile, this acquisition helps us drive that forward."

Ben-Kiki points to his company's considerable list of partners in the online gaming space, which include Electronic Arts and Microsoft. "We believe in a partnership-heavy approach in general," he said. "The I-play acquisition very logically fitted our strategy, and I-play also takes a logical position about how to offer services besides just gameplay."  - Nathan [1]

For more on the Oberon/I-play deal:
- read this release [2]

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- I-play [3]: 79% of gamers satisfied with mobile
- I-play [4] gambles on mobile gaming sweepstakes