Jam City (company)

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Jam City, Inc.
Formerly
  • Platform G (2010)
  • MindJolt (2010–2012)
  • Social Gaming Network (2012–2016)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Founders
Headquarters
Culver City, California
,
US
Key people
OwnerNetmarble (minority stake)
Number of employees
825 (2021)
Subsidiaries
Websitejamcity.com

Jam City, Inc. (formerly MindJolt and Social Gaming Network) is an American

monthly active users and 1.3 billion
total downloads.

History

Jam City was founded by the

App Store.[18]

In the wake of Cookie Jam's success, the South Korean mobile game company Netmarble invested $130 million in SGN in July 2015, becoming SGN's largest shareholder; this was one of the largest investments in mobile gaming since 2013.[19][20] By the time of Netmarble's investment, SGN games had been downloaded 500 million times.[21] Following Netmarble's investment, SGN bought the developers Fat Rascal Games and Kiwi Inc. in late 2015, followed by TinyCo in July 2016. The latter acquisition raised SGN's staff count from 125 to 400.[22][23] Mobile entertainment games that TinyCo had created include Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff and Marvel Avengers Academy.[24] SGN rebranded as Jam City in September 2016,[11] the same year Genies & Gems, a match-3 puzzle game, was launched.[25]

On April 25, 2018, Jam City released Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, a mobile game based on J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World franchise.[26] Within its first day, the game was ranked first on the App Store's free-to-play category and reached tenth place on the list of top-grossing games across categories.[27] It was the fastest of Jam City's games to reach $100 million in revenue,[28] generating $110 million in its first year.[29] By October 2019, it had been downloaded 54.6 million times.[30] The game was nominated for Best Breakthrough Game during the 2019 Google Play Awards.[31][32]

Jam City bought the intellectual property, management, and development team of Bingo Pop from

Frozen 2 films, which launched the next year.[36][37]

Jam City announced in January 2019 that it raised US$145 million in funding from

solitaire, mahjong, and bingo.[41] According to analytics provider Sensor Tower, solitaire, mahjong, and bingo games ranked among Jam City's top games as of February 2021.[42] By mid-2020, Jam City's valuation was estimated at greater than $2 billion.[43]

On May 20, 2021, Jam City announced it would become a public company through a merger with DPCM Capital Inc., a special-purpose acquisition company. The merger valued Jam City at $1.2 billion, including debt.[44] The merger was expected to close later in 2021.[44] Through the deal, Jam City was also acquire video game developer Ludia, the maker of games based on the Jurassic World franchise, for $165 million in September.[45][46] In August 2022, Jam City laid off 150–200 people (17% of its headcount), primarily affecting Ludia.[47]

Selected games

Most of the games Jam City produces are free-to-play and use microtransactions for players to obtain in-game items or abilities that speed up progression.[48] Jam City's stated business goals include creating high-quality games that generate revenue for years.[49] Jam City's games include both original and licensed intellectual property.[50]

In 2017, Jam City had 50 million

Apple App Store.[51][52] The company had 31 million monthly active users and 1.3 billion total game downloads in 2021.[3]

Year Title Genre(s) Platform(s) Notes Ref(s).
2013 Panda Pop Bubble shooter Android, iOS [53][54][55]
Bingo Pop Bingo Originally developed by Uken Games; acquired by Jam City in 2018 [53][33][34][35]
2014 Cookie Jam + Cookie Jam Blast
Match-three game
 [53][16][56]
Book of Life: Sugar Smash Match-three game Partnership with
Fox and based on the film The Book of Life
. This was Jam City's first collaboration with a major Hollywood studio to release a game simultaneously with a film 		[57][58]
Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff City-building game Licensed game based on the Family Guy animated sitcom; originally developed by TinyCo [59]
2016 Disney Emoji Blitz Match-three game Originally developed by Disney Games; license acquired by Jam City in 2018 [53][36][60]
Genies & Gems Match-three game [53][25][61]
2017 Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow
City building, adventure
 Licensed game based on the Futurama series [62]
Snoopy Pop Bubble shooter Licensed game based on the
Peanuts
 comic strip 		[63]
Family Guy: Another Freakin' Mobile Game Puzzle, adventure Licensed game based on Family Guy [64]
2018 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Role-playing Licensed game based on Harry Potter franchise [53][65]
2019 Frozen Adventures Match-three, decorating Licensed game based on the Frozen franchise [66]
Vineyard Valley Puzzle, simulation [53][67]
2020 World War Doh Strategy, action [56]
Lovelink – Chapters of Love Dating simulation

Products and collaborations

Jam City released a monetization tool, AdJolt, in November 2010. It was made available to third-party developers, who would share revenue generated through AdJolt with MindJolt.[68] In December 2012, Jam City launched MasterKey, which enabled the company to develop cross-platform games without creating separate versions for each platform.[69] MasterKey was described as being technology that "essentially works like a translator or convertor".[9]

In December 2014, SGN and Chinese internet technology company NetEase announced a partnership that enabled Cookie Jam to be distributed in China beginning in early 2015.[70][71]

References

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External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jam_City_(company)&oldid=1196220498"