iPhone Gaming Studio ngmoco :) Buys Mac/iPhone Developer Freeverse

ngmoco :), maker of such free-to-play (with in-app purchases) game hits like Touch Pets and Eliminate has just raised a cool $25 million in funding and bought long time Mac and iPhone developer Freeverse of Skee-Ball and Flick Fishing fame. Techcrunch spoke to ngmoco :) CEO, Neil Young who said it was all about scale and acceleration:

He expects ngmoco to put out about about 20 new games this year, and the newly-acquired Freeverse team to nearly match that.In addition to rolling out wave after wave of new iPhone games, Young also plans to open up an SDK to ngmoco’s Plus+ system so that other developers can more easily tap into it.

We just look forward to Eliminate-ing some Skee-Ball'ers in crossover action! But the question we have for you is this -- do you like the free-to-play with in-app purchases model? (i.e. you get the game for free but can buy food or energy or power-ups or whatever inside the game). And how do you feel about all of ngmoco :) -- and now all of Freeverse's games going that way?

Rene Ritchie
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Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.