Report: In-Fusio to be liquidated

Longtime French mobile gaming firm In-Fusio appears to have faded into the night; according to Mobile Entertainment, the firm will have its assets liquidated.

In-Fusio did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the issue.

In-Fusio was one of the heavy hitters during the early days of the mobile gaming market. By 2005, its heyday, In-Fusio claimed a portfolio of over 70 titles and more than 1 million paid interactions per month. The company had partnerships with the likes of Orange, SFR, D2 Vodafone, Telefonica Moviles, Vodafone Omnitel and China Mobile on the operator side and Philips, Siemens and Panasonic on the manufacturer side. Indeed, In-Fusio was a Fierce 15 winner in 2005.

However, In-Fusio's fortunes appeared to be on the downswing by January 2007, when the company filed suit against Microsoft, alleging the software giant wrongfully terminated a $2 million deal to deliver wallpapers and ringtones inspired by Microsoft's "Halo" video game.

Interactive mobile entertainment publisher Zenops acquired In-Fusio in May 2007 to expand its mobile gaming footprint beyond the i-mode platform, where it previously dedicated its energies. Then, in June 2008, In-Fusio reported it secured an unspecified amount of funding from French IT expansion fund Occam Capital. "The digital entertainment market faces ever renewed challenges, both in terms of technology and new delivery platforms," said In-Fusio North America CEO Norman Evangelista at the time. "We are gratified that Occam Capital has validated our strategy."

Although the mobile gaming industry hasn't blossomed as some had hoped, gaming efforts for top smartphones--notably Apple's iPhone--has rekindled some of the excitement in the entertainment-for-cell-phones space.

For more
- see this Mobile Entertainment article

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