Social Game Dev Playdom In Offbeat Acquisition

Playdom, the social game developer behind Sorority Life and Mobsters, said Wednesday that it acquired Bellevue, WA-based Facebook game developer Offbeat Creations, creator of the dice-based online game Super Farkle. "With this acquisition we are bringing a talented new game studio into the Playdom family with a very exciting game pipeline," said John Pleasants, CEO of Playdom. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Offbeat founders Chia Chin Lee, Robert Reichner and Tom Fakes are joining Playdom in "leadership roles." Currently, Offbeat's growing staff includes 12 game designers and developers, and Playdom has a 15-person Seattle, WA-based staff. The acquisition brings Offbeat's community and games under the Playdom umbrella, home to Playdom games such as Lil Farm Life, Tiki Farm, Tiki Resort, Wild Ones and Poker Palace. "We have aggressive plans to expand our social gaming footprint in 2010 and the addition of Offbeat Creations will significantly enhance our development throughput and expand Playdom's game pipeline this year," Pleasants added. In December, Playdom said it expected to generate $50 million in revenues for 2009. The acquisition of Offbeat comes just a couple weeks after competing social game company Zynga (FarmVille, Mafia Wars) acquired Friends for Sale creator Serious Business for an undisclosed sum.