Oberon Media Acquires I-Play

Oberon Media, a publisher of casual games, has announced its intention to acquire mobile phone software developer and publisher I-Play.

Oberon will maintain the I-Play brand, and currently has no moves planned for either company’s offices or studios. David Gosen, I-Play CEO, will remain with the company in a new role as head of Oberon’s mobile games business worldwide.

“This acquisition strengthens Oberon Media’s multi-platform strategy, and we are now positioned as the undisputed leader in one of the hottest growth markets: mass-market casual games,” said Tomer Ben-Kiki, CEO of Oberon Media. As well as publishing its titles online, Oberon has also partnered with a number of other high-profile companies, such as MSN Games Network, Pogo, ICQ, Verizon Broadband, Orange and Comcast.

At the same time, the company has also completed a new round of funding from both new and existing investors. No figures were given, although Oberon did confirm that investors included Goldman Sachs, Oak Investment Partners, Lehman Brothers and others.

Ben-Kiki added, “We are now poised to revolutionize the casual games category, offering our partners access to more than a thousand of the most popular casual games, delivered to their consumers’ ‘screen of choice’: online, mobile and TV.”