Casual gaming franchise
Cooking Mama, developed by Cooking Mama Ltd. (formerly Office Create) has sold some 12 million copies around the world since its introduction on the Nintendo DS in 2006.
Around 8.5 million of those units were sold in North America, a Majesco representative
told consumer site Joystiq. Majesco publishes the series in North America, while Square Enix subsidiary Taito Corp. handles it in Japan and 505 Games releases it in Europe.
The cooking-themed minigame franchise has appeared on several platforms, including DS, iOS, and Wii. It also has a microtransactions-based, free-to-play edition on Facebook, which
currently has nearly 600,000 monthly active players.
In addition to its sequels, it's received several spin-offs like
Gardening Mama, Babysitting Mama, and
Crafting Mama. Activision also produced a knock-off title called
Science Papa, and PETA
lampooned the game several years ago.
Majesco plans to put out at least two more Mama games in the near future with
Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic (3DS) and
Camping Mama (DS) both releasing in October.
