Moshi Monsters Maker Mind Candy Valued At $200M After Share Sale

Spark Ventures PLC announced today it has sold half of its stake in Moshi Monsters maker Mind Candy for $4.9 million, a sale that values the London-based developer at $200 million. London-based Mind Candy has seen its child-focused Moshi Monsters virtual world reach over 50 million registered players worldwide since its launch in 2008. The free-to-play Flash game, which is reportedly played by one-in-three British children, makes money through optional value-added memberships as well as sales of licensed toys, magazines and trading cards. Looking at the game shortly after its beta launch, Gamasutra's Matthew Kumar noted the game's "artistically fully realized" world and intuitive interface made it inherently attractive to new players. 70-person Mind Candy is also known for alternate reality card/online game Perplex City, which struggled to make money after giving a $200,000 prize to the first person to solve its myriad clues and find and return a mysterious cube hidden in the real world. The Spark sale represents a 1400 percent return for the venture capital firm since its initial 2006 investment, alongside Accel Partners and Index Ventures. Spark has also invested in game companies including social/casual portal OMGPOP and mobile developer Twistbox, though general partner Alex Finklestein said in 2009 the company is reluctant to "invest in a hit-driven business" any further than necessary.