Glu Mobile Gets Backing From Time Warner

Mobile game publisher and developer Glu Mobile has announced that media company Time Warner Inc. has made a strategic investment in the company's latest round of venture capital financing, originally led by Granite Global Ventures in May of 2005, in another example of a large media company's increasingly direct interest in the video game space. Glu plans to use the proceeds from the Time Warner investment, believed to be around $7.5 million, to help continue its global expansion. The new total for the series D round of financing is $27.75 million, and Glu, which is formed from mobile forms Sorrent and Macrospace, has raised around $58 million in venture financing since it was founded in 2001, according to online reports. Popular Glu Mobile titles include DRIV3R, Deer Hunter and Mark Ecko's Getting Up: Mobile from Atari; titles from Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Celador International, creator of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?; casual titles Zuma and AstroPop from PopCap Games; and original titles such as Ancient Empires, Daily Puzzle, Fatal Force and Blackjack Hustler. The company also produces ringtones and other online content, including a Fox Sports Mobile information-browsing application. "Glu has made huge strides over the past year to solidify its position as a leading mobile entertainment company," said Greg Ballard, president and chief executive officer, Glu Mobile. "Time Warner's investment in Glu is strategically significant for the industry at large, and it validates the efforts we've made to make Glu the thriving company it is today." As a results of the newly announced investment, Andy Heller, president, domestic distribution, Turner Broadcasting, Inc. and head of Turner's GameTap operations, will join Glu's board. "We're committed to working with the world-class team at Glu to help this company build upon its leadership position in the mobile entertainment industry," commented Heller. "Glu Mobile, which already develops games in partnership with Turner, will benefit from access to Time Warner's other leading brands and businesses."