Zattikka Secures $5.5 Million For Portfolio Expansion, Social Games

Developer Zattikka announced its raising of $5.5 million through its parent company Expedite 5 -- funds that it will put toward broadening its catalog of browser and mobile titles, specifically social games. Investment fund Notion Capital Partners led the round of financing, with a group of private individuals also participating, including Harald Ludwig, co-chairman of Lions Gate Entertainment. Ludwig will also now lead Zattikka's board of directors. Based in London and founded in August 2009 by former Virgin Games executives Tim Chaney and Mark Opzoomer, the studio has already produced more than 100 titles. Zattikka currently develops at least two new games each week, and its portfolio of releases has seen 77 million recorded gameplays and reached one million monthly unique users last month. The start-up acquired web games portal Gimme5Games last September, which features titles like Finger Frenzy World, Balloon Headed Boy, and the Phantom Mansion series. Last month, it launched BadHead, a new portal catering to the hardcore gaming market. Zattikka says that with its new funding, it will invest in "recruitment, research and development, and marketing" to expand its catalog to take advantage of "diversifying audiences for social gaming." It points out that most of its audience growth in recent months has come from territories where consumer demand for social games is "increasing exponentially". "Over the past two years the consumer appetite for online gaming has increased significantly with revenue already standing at over $2.25bn in 2008 and growing 20 per cent per annum," says CEO Chaney. "This much broader audience is being driven by females and premium gamers developing a passion for casual social gaming." The executive adds, "To successfully operate in such a competitive fast-growth industry we are focused on developing games that appeal to the different demographics of this wider audience. This round of funding led by Notion Capital means we can now push ahead with recruiting even more skilled people and put substantial investment behind product development and marketing.”