PlayFirst has announced that it has received $9.2 million in financing from investors Mayfield Fund, Trinity Partners, DCM and Rustic Canyon Ventures. The funds will be used to fund the company s push into the market for mobile and social games.
“This financing enables us to keep our focus on the opportunities in the mobile and social gaming sectors and provides the flexibility to quickly respond to changes and opportunities as the market continues to shift rapidly. With this capital, we will continue to aggressively optimize the PlayFirst brands that consumers love, like Diner Dash, to social and mobile platforms and look for growth through partnerships and potential acquisitions,” said Mari Baker, president and chief executive of PlayFirst.
“PlayFirst, with its unique combination of best-selling casual game titles and emotionally engaging content, is well-positioned to thrive in today s quickly growing market for social and mobile games,” said Gus Tai, general partner, Trinity Ventures. “We see tremendous market opportunity ahead and PlayFirst will continue to be part of that story.”
Additionally, Eric Hartness will join the company from PlaySpan. He is a veteran of Electronic Arts, spending almost nine years working on games like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Simpsons Game, The Godfather, and Dead Space.
“PlayFirst continues to build out a winning team for the social game space. The addition of Eric, whom I m known for a number of years, brings a recognized leader to drive PlayFirst brands in the social game market,” said Mike Vorhaus, president, Magid Advisors. “In fact, our recent research shows that Diner Dash is already better known among Facebook game players than many of the top Facebook games today.”
