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RealNetworks makes Finnish mobile gaming buy
By Laura Rohde

RealNetworks Inc. has acquired Finnish mobile gaming developer Mr. Goodliving Ltd. for US$15 million as part of an overall plan to become more aggressive in the European mobile gaming market, the companies announced Wednesday.

"Our goal is to be the dominate player in casual games for the mobile phone within the next year or two," said Derrick Morton, the general manager of RealNetworks' mobile games division. "We see this as a natural next step for us."

Mr. Goodliving, in Helsinki, develops, publishes and sells Java-based games, including its Playman Sports series, as well as various mobile phone versions of Trivial Pursuit. The company, established in 1999, employs about 40 people, all of whom will stay in their current positions, said Juha Ruskola, chief executive officer (CEO) of Mr. Goodliving.

Though the company has not given a public accounting of its balance sheet, its CEO said he expects Mr. Goodliving will generate around $3 million for the remainder of the year.

"Gaming is the biggest mobile value-added service right now, apart, perhaps, from ring tones, which have flattened in terms of growth," Ruskola said.

U.S. consumers will get a crack at some of the Mr. Goodliving games as early as July or August, Ruskola said. Mr. Goodliving's Trivial Pursuit games will not be offered in the U.S. as the company only owns the European licensing rights. The Walt Disney Co. and Verizon Wireless Inc. own the U.S. rights.

Another motivating factor to seal the deal for RealNetworks, in Seattle, is the company's desire to utilize Mr. Goodliving's proprietary development software, MrG Emerge, not just in Europe but in the U.S. as well, Morton said. After the merger, RealNetworks' development tools will be able to support 150 different handsets and 20 different languages.

"Mr. Goodliving's development platform will have a big impact on how we do things, because it works in a manner that eliminates the need to import for J2EE [Java 2 Enterprise Edition] or Brew [Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless], for instance," Morton said. "You don't need to hand port for every device; this technology really streamlines that."

RealNetworks was also keen on Mr. Goodliving's network of partners throughout Europe, which includes major operators (Vodafone Group PLC; T-Mobile International AG; Orange SA; and MMO2 PLC), portals, media companies and retail channels. Additionally, Mr. Goodliving has highlighted what it says is a strong position in the new E.U. countries and in Russia.

According to Ruskola, there will be no big changes at Mr. Goodliving, though its employees face some travel between Helsinki and Seattle as they bring the new parent company up to speed on MrG Emerge in particular.

For its part, RealNetworks has a lot on its plate as it takes on competition such as Nokia Corp.'s N-Gage. The company will focus on securing its European foothold, developing new products and aggregating about 100 developers to bring over to Mr. Goodliving, all while looking for new opportunities, Morton said.

"Of course, we can't give any details, but Asia is an area we want to see some growth in as well," Morton said.

Posted May 11, 2005 04:02 PM |