Rekoo buys Chinese social game developer for $20M

Newsbrief: Beijing-headquartered social game developer and operator Rekoo purchased another Chinese studio, HappySNS, late last year for $20 million, boosting its monthly active user count significantly. In addition to picking up HappySNS's staff and titles (e.g. Fishing Paradise, Ocean Secret), Rekoo will add the developer's global audience of 30 million users spread across social networks like Tencent, Renren, Mobage, Mixi, and Facebook in China, Japan, and the U.S. Bulking up its 20 million usercount, that brings Rekoo's total audience to 50 million -- making it one of the biggest social game firms in China. Founded in 2008, Rekoo has released popular titles like Sunshine Ranch, Sunshine Deepsea, and Animal Paradise. Rekoo CEO Liu Yong told news site Sina that his company will work with HappySNS's team to increase its footprint in Japan first (where its average revenue per user is 10-20 times higher than China's), then the U.S., and then China, according to InsideSocialGames.