synopsis: Kabam™, a leading developer of hardcore social games, announced that it has acquired Fearless Studios, an independent game development studio led by award-winning writer and game director Haden Blackman and technology leader Cedrick Collomb.

synopsis: Cosmi has announced the acquisition of Chaska, Minnesota-based ValuSoft, the PC value line of THQ Inc. The combination will make the new ValuSoft+Cosmi venture the second largest U.S. Retail Publisher of PC Games in units sold and the #1 Retail Publisher in the Value Software Category by units sold.

synopsis: Z2Live, creators of genre defining, free-to-play social games for mobile devices, announced the acquisition of Big Sandwich Games, an independent full-service game development studio based in Vancouver, BC. The Big Sandwich Games team will create the foundation of the newly formed Z2Live Games Vancouver.

synopsis: Buena Vista Games, Inc., the interactive entertainment arm of The Walt Disney Company, today announced the acquisition of acclaimed Salt Lake City-based video game developer, Avalanche Software LC.

synopsis: Music distributor the Handleman Company has announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire the privately-owned U.S. game distributor and publisher the Crave Entertainment Group for $72 million, plus the assumption of working capital debt.

synopsis: Atari, Inc. a leader in interactive entertainment, announced the completion of the Company's strategic internal studio divesture through the sale of Shiny Entertainment to Foundation 9 Entertainment. The operational streamlining and portfolio refocus was announced by Atari in early 2006.

synopsis: NDS, the leading provider of technology solutions for digital pay-TV, today announced the acquisition of Danish game design, development and publishing company ‘ITE’. ITE has an extensive library of proven game titles for consoles, mobiles and PCs.

synopsis: Microsoft Game Studios today announced it has purchased U.K.-based Lionhead Studios, one of the world's leading and most innovative video game developers and creators of "Fable(R)," the hit Xbox(R) and Windows(R) franchise.

synopsis: THQ Inc. announced the acquisition of Vigil Games. Vigil is currently working on new content for next-gen scheduled for release in 2008.

synopsis: Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announced the formation of Rockstar New England through the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Andover, MA-based Mad Doc Software, one of the premier independent development studios in North America.

synopsis: THQ Inc. announced plans to acquire Big Huge Games, a leading development studio focused on the Role-Playing-Game genre, a multi-billion dollar market segment.

synopsis: Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. announced the acquisition of Illusion Softworks, a premier Central European-based game development studio with operations in Brno and Prague, the Czech Republic. Illusion Softworks has approximately 200 employees and will join Take-Two’s 2K Games publishing label as its newest studio, 2K Czech.

synopsis: Playlogic Entertainment, Inc. an independent worldwide publisher of entertainment software -- has acquired the hack and slash adventure game "Dimensity" from Bulgarian developer Dagger Games.

synopsis: GigaMedia Limited announced today a strategic partnership with and investment in leading game development studio Neostorm Holdings Limited.

synopsis: Oberon Media, the world’s leading multi-platform casual-games company, today announced it has significantly expanded its Eastern European presence by acquiring Kenjitsu, a Nikitova-affiliated outsourcing studio located in St Petersburg, Russia.

synopsis: Oberon Media, the world’s leading multi-platform casual-games company, today announced it has significantly expanded its Eastern European presence by acquiring Friends Games, developer of the hit game Magic Match: The Genie's Journey, located near Kiev, Ukraine.

synopsis: Electronic Arts Inc. has completed its acquisition of VG Holding Corp. and has officially welcomed BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios to the EA Games Label. The addition of these studios vaults EA into a competitive position in the RPG, action and adventure genres.

synopsis: Columbia Music Entertainment, Inc. has announced that it has concluded a share transfer agreement with TDK Corporation to acquire all shares of TDK Core Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the planning, production, and sale not only of music software but also of game and educational software.

synopsis: Sony Computer Entertainment today announced that it had acquired leading game developer Evolution Studios Ltd and its subsidiary Bigbig Studios Ltd to further expand its game development capability as part of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios.

synopsis: MumboJumbo, a leading developer and publisher of premium casual games, announced its recent acquisition of Hot Lava, a Russian-based casual games developer. Hot Lava CEO, Matt Lichtenwalter, will join the MumboJumbo executive team as its new Vice President of Product Development.

synopsis: Kabam™, a leading developer of hardcore social games, announced that it has acquired Fearless Studios, an independent game development studio led by award-winning writer and game director Haden Blackman and technology leader Cedrick Collomb.

synopsis: Kabam™, a leading developer of free-to-play hardcore social games, announced it has acquired 3D social game developer Gravity Bear, creator of the innovative role-playing combat game, Battle Punks™. The acquisition pairs Gravity Bear’s leadership in cutting edge 3D browser game development with Kabam’s expertise in scaling free-to-play games.

synopsis: Kabam™, a leading developer of hardcore social games, announced that it has acquired Fearless Studios, an independent game development studio led by award-winning writer and game director Haden Blackman and technology leader Cedrick Collomb.

synopsis: Kabam, a developer of real games for social networks, announced the acquisition of high-end social game developer, WonderHill. WonderHill developed the strategy social game Dragons of Atlantis and other quality games including the popular Facebook game Tattoo City.

synopsis: PopCap Games, the worldwide leader in casual games, announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire ZipZapPlay, a social games company. With the acquisition, PopCap increases its Facebook games lineup and positions itself for further growth and continued success in one of the hottest digital games categories.

synopsis: PostUp, the social media platform founded by Internet entrepreneur Bill Gross, announced that it has acquired UberTwitter, the leading Twitter client on the BlackBerry platform. UberTwitter is also available for iPhones.

synopsis: RockYou has announced the acquisition of social game developer Playdemic. Based in Manchester, England, Playdemic will operate independently as Playdemic, a RockYou studio, and develop Facebook games for the mainstream audience.

synopsis: Kabam, a developer of real games for social networks, announced the acquisition of high-end social game developer, WonderHill. WonderHill developed the strategy social game Dragons of Atlantis and other quality games including the popular Facebook game Tattoo City.

synopsis: Lolapps, a top five social games company, and 6waves Inc., a leading international publisher of gaming applications, announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement creating one of the largest networks of social gaming applications on the web. The two companies attract more than 35M monthly active users globally.

synopsis: eGames, Inc., a publisher of popular casual games at retail and online for over ten years announced that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Heyday Games, Inc., a producer of cross-platform social game content, effectively making eGames one of the only publicly-traded social game companies in the market today.

synopsis: RockYou®, a leading social gaming company, announced the acquisition of social game developer 3 Blokes. Based in Brisbane, Australia, 3 Blokes will operate independently as a RockYou studio and develop strategy and combat-driven Facebook games. RockYou is expanding its studio system to support top independent developers around the world.

synopsis: Net Element, a publisher of digital destinations and Internet services provider, announced that it has acquired vDream Inc., a privately held social gaming company based in Oakland, CA. vDream offers car enthusiasts a unique application to build, customize and race their own cars within a competitive social community.

synopsis: Klab Inc announced that it acquired Pikkle Inc., a social application provider.

synopsis: Kabam™, a leading developer of free-to-play hardcore social games, announced it has acquired 3D social game developer Gravity Bear, creator of the innovative role-playing combat game, Battle Punks™. The acquisition pairs Gravity Bear’s leadership in cutting edge 3D browser game development with Kabam’s expertise in scaling free-to-play games.

synopsis: Peak Games, the fastest‐growing emerging markets games company in the world, has acquired Saudi social games giant Kammelna Games, marking a step forward to further cement the company's leadership in two of the world's largest emerging markets, Turkey and Middle East North Africa (MENA).

synopsis: Electronic Arts Inc., a global leader in digital interactive entertainment, announced the acquisition of KlickNation, a developer of free-to-play social role-playing games for social platforms including Facebook®. KlickNation has become BioWare Sacramento, part of EA’s BioWare™ label.

synopsis: RealNetworks, Inc., the digital entertainment services company, announced it has acquired Canadian social games company Backstage Technologies Inc. Backstage will add valuable expertise in both engineering and monetizing games for social platforms to GameHouse, Real's digital games division.

synopsis: Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced the continuation of its roll-up of talented social gaming development teams with the acquisition of Merscom, LLC. Privately held Merscom develops online and social games for third parties with nationally recognized brands.

synopsis: Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced it has acquired Three Melons, a premier developer of online games. A leader in social gaming technology, Three Melons has developed sophisticated proprietary software to enhance the production of games and is also an early adopter of cutting edge development tools like Unity 3D.

synopsis: Idle Media, Inc. reported that it has closed on the previously announced acquisitions of the assets of three online properties: www.prisonblock.com, www.chixr.us, and www.tweetvibe.com.

synopsis: Zynga announced that it has acquired Tokyo-based Unoh, one of Japan’s leading social games companies. Unoh will be part of the foundation of Zynga Japan’s mobile product efforts, which will be a joint venture between SoftBank Group and Zynga, accelerating Zynga Japan’s entry into the Japanese social gaming market.

synopsis: Google Inc. said it has bought social widget maker Slide Inc., a deal that gives the Internet search leader a team of developers with extensive social-networking experience. Slide develops applications and virtual goods for Facebook, MySpace and other websites.

synopsis: Walt Disney is making a big move into social games, with the purchase of social game developer Playdom for up to $763.2 million. Over the last year, Playdom has been rapidly expanding its line-up of titles through the acquisition of eight gaming startups. It now ranks as the top social game developer on MySpace and the fourth biggest on Facebook.

synopsis: MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, Inc., announced that it has acquired Social Express, Inc., a social gaming development company, marking the company's first entry into the social gaming space. MTV Networks will develop social games based on original IP, as well as shows and characters from MTV, Nickelodeon and its other brands.