Six weeks, $200 million. That’s the story for Draw Something, the run-away hit mobile game that has been dominating downloads on both Apple and Android devices. OMGPOP, the New York-based creator of Draw Something, says its game has been downloaded 35 million times since its launch six weeks ago.
While players were busy drawing pictures the company was drawing attention from the heavyweights in the mobile and social game space. Now Zynga (ZNGA) says it will buy OMGPOP, and while it did not disclose a purchase price, the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital puts it at about $200 million.
Draw Something is more than just a popular passtime; it is a huge money maker thanks to in-app purchases. OMGPOP says it is currently the top grossing app in Apple’s app store, as well as the number one free and paid app.
Zynga has a history of buying profitable games; its flagship product Words with Friends came via an acquisition of Newtoy for $53 million in 2010. Zynga went public in mid-December, and filed last week for a secondary offering to increase the distribution of its shares.
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But the obvious target here is Draw Something, a sort-of social Pictionary game played on iPhones and Android handsets.
The game is astonishingly popular, and the iPhone app sits atop the iTunes “top paid” and “top free” lists, which is very unusual. Even more unusual: It is also the top-grossing app at iTunes, based in large part on in-app purchases made by players. People familiar with the company tell me it has recently been netting around $250,000 a day from the game — that’s after Apple takes its 30 percent cut.
http://allthingsd.com/20120321/looks-like-zynga-just-bought-omgpop-for-200-million/
