Kabam
Canadian video game developer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kabam (formerly Watercooler, Inc.) is a Canadian video game developer and publisher founded in 2006 and headquartered in Vancouver, with offices in Montreal, San Francisco, and Austin, Texas. The company develops and publishes massively multiplayer social games such as Marvel Contest of Champions and Transformers: Forged to Fight for mobile devices. Before expanding into gaming, Kabam established itself as a social applications developer with focusing on entertainment and sports.
 | This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. (May 2014) |
 | This article needs to be updated. (February 2024) |
| |
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Key people |
|
| Industry | Video game |
| Revenue | 360 million |
| Employees | 700 (March 7, 2017) |
| Parent | Netmarble |
| Subsidiaries | Kabam Games, Inc. Kabam Games UK LTD. Kabam Acadia Inc. Kabam Montreal, Inc. Kabam Software Inc. Kabam LA, Inc Kung Fu Factory |
| URL | Official website |
The company has focused on developing "real games," or games with immersive gameplay mechanics akin to more traditional MMOs with an emphasis on the spending and gambling of virtual currency. In late 2009, Kabam launched Kingdoms of Camelot, one of the first successful strategy games on Facebook, but in June 2010, the number of players began constantly shrinking.[1] In April 2015, Kabam announced a shift in its focus to developing AAA mobile games.[2]
History
Summarize
Perspective
Kabam was founded in 2006 as Watercooler by Kevin Chou, Michael Li, Holly Liu, and Wayne Chan, the company started off focused on building community apps for sports and entertainment fans, amassing more than 25 million users on Facebook and other social networks.[3] In October 2009 Watercooler, secured $5.5 million in Series B funding from Betfair, the world's largest Internet betting exchange, and Canaan Partners, which participated in the company's Series A funding in 2007.[4] On November 2, 2009, Watercooler, launched Kingdoms of Camelot on Facebook.[5]
On August 3, 2010, Watercooler changed its name to Kabam.[6]
On September 19, 2012, CEO Kevin Chou announced that Kabam was considering an IPO.[7] A secondary stock sale was agreed at the end of 2013 which valued the company at $700 million, it was also announced at this time that four of its games – led by Kingdoms of Camelot – grossed more than $100 million, with $360 million in revenues for 2013.[8]
In June 2014, Kabam hired former EA Mobile VP Aaron Loeb as Senior Vice President of its North American Studios (San Francisco and Vancouver). While at EA Mobile, he worked on The Simpsons: Tapped Out and Monopoly Slots. Kabam hoped he would provide a link to Hollywood studios.[9] Also in June, Kabam shut down servers for The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age.[10]
Alibaba announced in July 2014 that it planned to invest $120 million in Kabam, giving the company a $1 billion valuation. This allowed its games to be distributed through Alibaba's apps, including Mobile Taobao and the Laiwang messaging app.[11]
In April 2015, Kabam switched its focus to developing AAA mobile games. As a result, several Kabam games were shut down, older Kabam games transferred to other companies and Kabam support for third-party games decreased.[2]
On August 13, 2015, Machine Zone, maker of Game of War: Fire Age, sued Kabam for trade secret theft.[12] The conflict was resolved to both companies' satisfaction on September 10.[13]
On September 10, 2015, Kabam, Disney Interactive, and Lucasfilm released Star Wars: Uprising. In September 2015, Nick Earl, president of worldwide studios, resigned. Mike Verdu was promoted to president of Kabam Studios and chief creative officer in charge of the publisher's game design and game quality. Aaron Loeb was promoted to president of Kabam Studios and live services, in charge of service quality.[14]
On January 7, 2016, Kabam announced it had sold its legacy games and third-party-published games to Chinese publisher GAEA Mobile.[15] After the downsizing in April 2015, Kabam shut down several older games that were not transferred.
On February 22, 2016, Kabam laid off 8 percent of its company workforce. Kevin Chou, Kabam's chief executive, said in an interview with GamesBeat that the company would focus on free-to-play massively multiplayer mobile games such as its then-current hits, Marvel Contest of Champions and Star Wars: Uprising, putting less emphasis on single-player games such as Fast & Furious.[16] On June 23, 2016, Kabam announced that they would be selling Realm of the Mad God to DECA Games.
In July 2016, Kabam announced that Marvel Contest of Champions hit $100 million in gross revenue in seven months, the fastest of any game in the company's history (The Hobbit was next fastest at 13 months). In November 2016, Kabam appointed Jeff Howell to the newly created position of Chief Technology Officer.
In August 2016, Kabam partnered with Hasbro to develop Transformers: Forged to Fight. The title was released on April 5, 2017. The game was shut down in January 2023 but was remade available to Netflix members in May 2023.[17]
As of March 1, 2017, Kabam was acquired by Netmarble.[18] At this time, Tim Fields took over as CEO.
On August 17, 2020, Kabam released Marvel Realm of Champions, a spin-off of Marvel Contest of Champions. That game would go on to shut down on March 31, 2022.[19]
On January 17, 2022, Kabam announced that Seungwon Lee from Netmarble would assume the role of CEO at Kabam.[20] The company later released Disney Mirrorverse, a Disney crossover mobile role-playing game, on June 23, 2022.
Company acquisitions
| Date of Purchase | Name of Company | Key Targets | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 22, 2010 | WonderHill | Dragons of Atlantis & Aquarium Life | [21] |
| December 20, 2011 | Gravity Bear | Battle Punks | [22] |
| June 19, 2012 | Wild Shadow Studios | Realm of the Mad God | [23] |
| January 27, 2012 | Fearless Studios | Haden Blackman – creator of Star Wars:The Force Unleashed & Cedrick Collomb – formerly Director of Engineering at LucasArts | [24] |
| December 3, 2013 | Balanced Worlds | Bomb Buddies | [25] |
| January 15, 2013 | Exploding Barrel Games | Margaritaville | [26] |
| March 10, 2014 | Phoenix Age | Underworld Empire and Castle Age | [27] |
| January 12, 2015 | Tapzen | Mike Verdu – formerly worked on the Command & Conquer franchise at EA, also used to work for Zynga | [28] |
| January 12, 2015 | Magic Pixel Games | Michael Seegers – former EA games developer | [28] |
| May 26, 2016 | Superweapon | Dawn of Steel | [29] |
| March 25, 2019 | Riposte Games & Co | Mini Guns publishing | [30] |
Games and platforms
| This section needs to be updated. (May 2015) |
Games developed or acquired by Kabam
| Title | Platform | Original Developer | Available to Play | Release Date | Shutdown Date | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Fantasy Football | Watercooler | No | 2009/07/01 | 2010/10 | |||
| 2. | $20K Football Challenge | Watercooler | No | 2009/08 | 2010/10 | |||
| 3. | 2010 Bracket Challenge | Watercooler | No | 2009/10/01 | 2010/10 | |||
| 4. | Kingdoms of Camelot | Watercooler | Yes | 2009/11/06 | Transferred to RockYou and supported by RockYou as of the beginning of April 2015, though Kabam still hosts the game and Kabam Rewards still apply to the game.[31] | |||
| 5. | Noodle | Watercooler | No | 2009/11/12 | 2010/10 | |||
| 6. | Sweet World | Watercooler | No | 2010/04/28 | 2011/01/31[32] | |||
| 7. | Epic Goal | Watercooler | No | 2010/06/01 | 2010/11 | |||
| 8. | SI Fantasy Football | Facebook, Web | Kabam | No | 2010/08/06 | 2011/04 | ||
| 9. | GreenSpot | MySpace | WonderHill | No | 2009 | 2010/12/02[33] | ||
| 10. | Dog World | MySpace, Facebook | WonderHill | No | 2009 | 2010 | ||
| 11. | Enchanted Gardens | WonderHill | No | 2009/10/12 | 2010 | |||
| 12. | Furry Farm | WonderHill | No | 2010/03/19 | 2010/12/01 | |||
| 13. | Tattoo City | WonderHill | No | 2010/06/16 | 2010/12/01[34] | |||
| 14. | Dragons of Atlantis | WonderHill | Yes | 2010/10/06 | Transferred to RockYou and supported by RockYou as of the beginning of April 2015, though Kabam still hosts the game and Kabam Rewards still apply to the game.[31] | |||
| 15. | Battle Punks | Gravity Bear Studio | No | 2010/03/02 | 2012/03 | Date is for beta release, server unresponsiveness by March 2012 was not announced and remains unresolved | ||
| 16. | Realm of the Mad God | Web, Kongregate, Steam | Wild Shadow Studios, Spry Fox | Yes | 2010/01/10 | 2016/06/16 | Acquired by Deca Games on 19 June and officially transferred to Deca Games on 23 June. | |
| 17. | Bomb Buddies | Balanced Worlds Studio | No | 2012/05/25 | 2013/06 | Server unresponsiveness by June 2013 was not announced and remains unresolved | ||
| 18. | Castle Age | Phoenix Age | Yes | 2009/02 | ||||
| 19. | Castle Age HD | iOS | Phoenix Age | Yes | 2011/12/15 | |||
| 20. | Underworld Empire | iOS & Android | Phoenix Age | Yes | 2013/01/15 | |||
| 21. | DDTank2 | Web | 7Road | No | 2013/05/02 | 2015/03/05[35] | ||
| 22. | This Means War | iOS & Android | Magic Pixel Games, TapZen | Yes | 2014/06/26 | |||
| 23. | Hero Force | Kabam | No | 2010/08/01 | 2011/04/29[36] | |||
| 24. | Glory of Rome | Kabam | Yes | 2010/10/23 | Transferred to RockYou and supported by RockYou as of the beginning of April 2015, though Kabam still hosts the game and Kabam Rewards still apply to the game.[31] | |||
| 25. | Global Warfare | Facebook, Web | Kabam | No | 2011/03/18 | 2012/11/30[37] | ||
| 26. | Samurai Dynasty | Kabam | No | 2011/03/29 | 2011/11/15[38] | Date is for beta release | ||
| 27. | Edgeworld | Kabam | No | 2011/05/18 | 2018/10 | Transferred to RockYou and supported by RockYou as of the beginning of April 2015, though Kabam still hosts the game and Kabam Rewards still apply to the game.[31] | ||
| 28. | The Godfather: Five Families | Facebook, Kongregate, Web | Kabam | No | 2011/09/07 | 2019/02 | Date is for beta release. Transferred to RockYou and supported by RockYou as of the beginning of April 2015, though Kabam still hosts the game and Kabam Rewards still apply to the game.[31] | |
| 29. | Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2011/11/21 | |||
| 30. | Thirst of Night | Web | Kabam | No | 2011/12 | 2013/01/31[39] | ||
| 31. | Final Eden | Web | Kabam | No | 2012/01/27 | 2012/11/27[40] | ||
| 32. | Mobile Command: Crisis in Europe | iOS | Kabam | No | 2012/04/04 | 2012/10/08[41] | Date for beta release, limited to Canada | |
| 33. | Arcane Empires | iOS, Android & Facebook | Kabam | Yes | 2012/06/26 | Date is for beta release, limited to Canada | ||
| 34. | Legend Four | iOS | Kabam | No | 2012/07/21 | 2013 | ||
| 35. | Trojan War | Web | Kabam | No | 2012/09/03 | 2012/11/19[42] | ||
| 36. | Battle Shard | Web | Kabam | No | 2012/09/12 | 2012/12/04[43] | Date is for beta release | |
| 37. | Kabam Slots | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2012/09/20 | 2014 | ||
| 38. | The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle Earth | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2012/10/16 | |||
| 39. | The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age | Facebook, Web | Kabam | No | 2012/11/06 | 2014/06/20[10] | ||
| 40. | Edgeworld Mobile | iOS | Kabam | No | 2012/11/06 | 2013/06/24[44] | Date is for beta release, limited to Canada | |
| 41. | Legend Four HD | iOS | Kabam | No | 2012/12/10 | 2013 | ||
| 42. | Lich Defense | Android | Kabam | No | 2013/02/01 | 2013 | ||
| 43. | Blastron | iOS, Android & Facebook | Kabam | No | 2013/01/03 | 2014 | ||
| 44. | Farland Wars | Android | Kabam | No | 2013/03/06 | 2013 | ||
| 45. | Dark District | iOS | Kabam | No | 2013/03/29 | 2014/07/21[45] | Date for beta release, limited to Canada | |
| 46. | Battle Dodgers | iOS, Android | Kabam | Yes | 2013/04/06 | Published and supported by Galaxy Pest Control. Android version is no longer available. | ||
| 47. | Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2013/04/16 | Date is for beta release | ||
| 48. | Fast & Furious 6 | iOS, Android & Facebook | Exploding Barrel Games | No | 2013/05/15 | 2015/06/30[46] | ||
| 49. | Imperium: Galactic War | Facebook, Web | Kabam | No | 2013/05/22 | 2013/11/04[47] | ||
| 50. | Order of Elements | iOS | Kabam | No | 2013/05/31 | 2013/11/11[48] | ||
| 51. | Galactic War: Legacy | Android | Kabam | No | 2013/06/12 | 2013/07 | Loading issues occurred by July 2013 | |
| 52. | Heroes of Camelot | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2013/06/27 | Date for beta release | ||
| 53. | Runes of War | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2013/08/26 | Date is for beta release | ||
| 54. | Eternal Uprising: End of Days | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2013/09/23 | 2014 | ||
| 55. | Blast Zone! | iOS | Kabam | No | 2013/10/08 | 2014/08/28 | Date is for beta release | |
| 56. | Blood Crown | Web | Kabam | No | 2013/12 | 2014/08/05[49] | ||
| 57. | Wartune: Hall of Heroes | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2014/03/06 | |||
| 58. | Angel Alliance | Web | Kabam | Yes | 2014/03/11 | Date is for beta release | ||
| 59. | Ravenmarch: Empire in Flames | Kabam | No | 2014/04/04 | 2016/02/16[50] | Then supported by 37GAMES by June 1, 2015,[51] but game suffers from long periods of broken Facebook login | ||
| 60. | Spirit Lords (Spirit Storm) | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2014/05/07 | |||
| 61. | Divine Might | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2014/05/09 | Date for beta release | ||
| 62. | Blades of Excalibur | Facebook & Web | Kabam | No | 2014/06/04 | 2015/04[52] | ||
| 63. | The Lord of the Rings: Legends of Middle-earth | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2014/09/18 | Date for beta release | ||
| 64. | Metal Skies | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2014/08/05 | 2015/03/06[53] | Date for beta release | |
| 65. | Marvel: Contest of Champions | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2014/10/02 | Date for beta release | ||
| 66. | The Hunger Games: Panem Rising | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2014/10/10 | 2016/03/10 | Date is for beta release | |
| 67. | Creature Academy | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2014/10/29 | 2015/04/10[54] | Date for beta release | |
| 68. | Fast & Furious: Legacy | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2015/01/23 | 2017/01/19 | Date for beta release | |
| 69. | Star Wars: Uprising | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2015/07/08 | 2016/11/17 | Date for beta release / Date for planned server shutdown | |
| 70. | Marvel United | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2015/07/09 | 2016/01/03[55] | Date for beta release, Android beta only available in Denmark and Sweden[56] | |
| 71. | Transformers: Forged to Fight | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2016/12/05 | 2023/01/13[57] | Date is for beta release. After its initial shutdown, the game was again made available to Netflix members as of 2023/05/10[58] | |
| 72. | Shop Titans | iOS & Android & Steam & Epic Games | Kabam | Yes | 2019/03/04 | |||
| 73. | Marvel Realm of Champions | iOS & Android | Kabam | No | 2020/08/17 | 2022/03/21[19] | Date is for beta release | |
| 74. | Disney Mirrorverse | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2022/06/23 | 2024/12/16[59] [60] | ||
| 75. | King Arthur: Legends Rise | iOS & Android | Kabam | Yes | 2023/12/05 |
Games developed by 3rd parties and distributed by Kabam
| Title | Platform | Original Developer | Available to Play | Release Date | Shutdown Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | Ministry of War | Kongregate, Web | SnailGames | Yes | 2010/08 | 2014/02/28[61] | |
| 02. | Geomon | iOS | EsperCorp, Loki Studios | No | 2010/10/01 | 2013/04/17 | |
| 03. | Nadirim | Web | Digital Reality, Twisted Tribe Ltd. | No | 2010/12/08 | 2013/06/30[62] | Date is for beta release |
| 04. | Dungeon Overlord | Facebook, Kongregate, Web | Nightowl Games | Yes | 2011 | 2014/02/28[61] | |
| 05. | Shadowland Online | Web | ZQGame | Yes | 2011/08/08 | 2016/02/16[50] | Date is for beta release |
| 06. | Castlot | Web | Power Hosts Technology | Yes | 2011/09 | 2016/01/27[63] | Date is for beta release |
| 07. | Book of Heroes | iOS & Android | Venan Games | Yes | 2011/12/01 | ||
| 08. | Clash Of the Dragons | Kongregate, Web | 5th Planet Games | No | 2011/12 | 2014/10/30[64] | |
| 09. | BloodRealm | Kongregate, Facebook, Steam, iOS, Android & Web | RedPoint Labs & Making Fun, Inc. | Yes | 2012/04 | 2014/09/11[65] | Date is for beta release |
| 10. | Rise of the Warriors | iOS | The Monkey Twins Studios | Yes | 2012/06/28 | 2013 | |
| 11. | Age of Chaos | iOS | LVL6 | No | 2012/08/05 | 2013 | |
| 12. | My Singing Monsters | Android, iOS & Web | Big Blue Bubble | Yes | 2012/09/04 | 2013/02 | |
| 13. | Wrath of Olympus | iOS | Chocobotsgames, mekalabo | No | 2012/12/07 | 2014 | |
| 14. | Reign of Conquerors | iOS & Android | Minoraxis | Yes | 2012/12/19 | 2014 | Date is for beta release |
| 15. | Invincible Armada | Neowiz Games | No | 2012/12/20 | 2014/02/28[61] | ||
| 16. | Kings of the Realm | Web, iOS & Android | DigitGame Studios | Yes | 2013/04/12 | 2016/01/27[63] | Kabam published mobile versions of the game on September 2, 2014, but the different versions were never cross-platform compatible. The mobile versions stopped working by January 2015 and Kabam forum support ended on February 9, 2015.[66] |
| 17. | Puzzle Trooper | iOS & Android | gumi | Yes | 2013/06/21 | 2014/04/30 | Date is for beta release |
| 18. | Moonrise | Steam, iOS | Undead Labs, Kabam | No | 2014/12/03 | 2015/12/31[67] | After limited releases in Canada,[68] Denmark and Sweden,[69] a beta was launched on Steam in early March[70] with Early Access on May 27[71] before Jeff Strain, founder of Undead Labs, announced the game's closure.[67] Android and iOS were the original planned platforms for the worldwide release, but the Android version was never released as the game closed while in beta. |
| 19. | Slot Galaxy | Galaxy Star Entertainment | Yes | 2012/03/23 | 2013 | ||
| 20. | Slots Tycoon | iOS | Zipline Games | Yes | 2012/05/23 | 2013 | |
| 21. | Slot Galaxy HD Slot Machines | Android | Tap Slots | Yes | 2012/12/16 | 2013 | |
| 22. | Texas Hold'em Poker | Web | Yes | ? | 2013 | ||
| 23. | Galaxy Online 2 | Facebook, Web | I Got Games | Yes | 2010 | 2016/02/16[50] | |
| 24. | Wings of Destiny | Facebook, Web | I Got Games | Yes | 2012/09/13 | 2016/02/16[50] | |
| 25. | Call of Gods | Kongregate, Web | Biyojoy Network Technology | Yes | 2010 | 2016/02/16[50] | |
| 26. | Glory of Gods | Kongregate, Web | Biyojoy Network Technology | Yes | 2012/12/03 | 2014/02/28[61] | |
| 27. | Pirates: Tides of Fortune | Web | Plarium | Yes | 2012/01/12 | ||
| 28. | Stormfall: Age of War | Facebook, Web | Plarium | Yes | 2012/11/01 | ||
| 29. | Crystal Saga | Kongregate, Web | Reality Squared Games | Yes | 2011/08 | 2016/02/12[72] | All players who filed a ticket to reality squared games got their characters transferred to r2games.com under one of their servers |
| 30. | Yitien | Web | Reality Squared Games | Yes | 2013/04/09 | 2016/02/12[72] | Date is for beta release |
| 31. | Demon Slayer (Wartune) | Facebook, Web | Reality Squared Games | Yes | 2012/08/13 | ||
| 32. | Wartune | Facebook, Web | Reality Squared Games | Yes | 2012/08/13 | Yahoo! version of the game was shut down on March 31, 2014, and progress transfer to other versions of the game was not possible.[73] |
Notes: Release date denotes when a game is first available to play, including closed and open beta releases. For games that are developed by other studios and distributed by Kabam, the shutdown date is when Kabam discontinued their support of the games. Those games may still be distributed by other publishers, or available to play on servers hosted by companies other than Kabam.
References
External links
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