THQ, Zenops make wireless gaming purchases

The wireless gaming space continued to consolidate, as two major players in the space announced purchases.
First up was THQ Inc., which announced it bought Finnish mobile game development studio Universomo Ltd.
Universomo offers a game development environment and automated porting solution for all major mobile platforms, said THQ.
“Bringing cross-platform, mobile development capabilities in-house is a key component in our growth strategy,” said Kelly Flock, executive VP of worldwide publishing for THQ. “The combination of Universomo’s award-winning creative development skills and their proven porting solution will enable new technology efficiencies for THQ Wireless, giving us the scalability to focus on building both our cornerstone brands and new, owned properties across Europe, Asia and North America.”
The company’s THQ Wireless subsidiary provides a variety of mobile entertainment products including games.
Terms of the deal were not released.
THQ also released earnings, showing gains in both revenues and net income. In the company’s wireless business, THQ reported that 2.5% of the company’s revenues in its most recent quarter came from sales of games and other content to cellphone users. That number was down from the 5.5% that wireless contributed to revenues in the year-ago quarter.
In separate acquisition news, Zenops announced the purchase of fellow France-based mobile game publisher In-Fusio and its subsidiary Mobile Scope for an undisclosed sum.
In-Fusio offers several high-profile licensed titles including Die Hard, Neopets, Terminator and Age of Empires. Zenops, which has gained traction through i-mode services in Europe, said the acquisition allows it to produce games “on all mobile technologies in the world” including BREW, Java, openOS and Doja.
Zenops said it also picked up Filao, a California-based mobile game publisher.
“It positions Zenops for further growth and is perfectly in tune with our strategy of delivering content for mobile phones and services dedicated to communities through cutting-edge technology and quality,” Zenops CEO Pascal Boiteux said of the acquisitions. “We want to be a key player in the consolidation of this market, and these acquisitions make us the number two player in Europe and propel us into sixth place in the western world.”