ngmoco has jointly announced the acquisition of iPhone developer Freeverse and the completion of a $25 million series C funding round.
Freeverse’s games, which include Skee-Ball, Flick Fishing (pictured), Flick Bowling and Moto Chaser, are all currently paid apps, but ngmoco plans to transition them to free-to-play, instead making money from in-app purchases.
ngmoco's most recent funding round was led by Institutional Venture Partners. Existing shareholders Kleiner Perkins, Norwest Venture Parters and Maples Investments also participated. Total funds raised now stand at $40.6 million.
Company CEO Neil Young told TechCrunch that he wants ngmoco to “amass enough scale” to accelerate “away from the pack”.
The San Francisco-based firm is best known for iPhone games such as Rolando, TouchPets and Eliminate. Last year it moved its business to a free-to-play games model supported by in-app purchases of virtual goods through its Plus+ social game network.
Young expects ngmoco to release around 20 new games this year, and Freeverse to almost match that output.
The executive recently confirmed in an interview with IGN that development of Rolando 3 had been cancelled in the wake of the company's shift to a free-to-play release strategy.