Yahoo! buys startup specializing in online games

Yahoo! pressed on with its shopping spree with the acquisition of a startup that powers games played on smartphones, tablets, consoles or personal computers.

Word that Yahoo! has bought Northern California-based PlayerScale came three days after the aging Internet pioneer announced a $1.1 billion deal to buy hip blogging service Tumblr as part of a move to woo a younger online audience.

“Today we acquired PlayerScale,” Yahoo! said in a statement emailed to AFP.

“We intend to continue to support and grow PlayerScale’s technology, and we look forward to building great new experiences on Yahoo! using the PlayerScale platform.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“Our goal has always been to help developers build the best possible games,” PlayerScale chief executive Jesper Jensen said in a blog post.

“With Yahoo!’s backing, we can crank out awesome products and improvements to our platform faster than ever before.” The PlayerScale platform works behind the scenes to handle payments, multi-person play, online chat and other features woven into games played on a broad range of devices.

“We have spent the past four years growing a three-person startup into a product that powers games played by over 150 million people worldwide and we are adding over 400,000 new users every day,” Jensen said.

Since former Google executive Marissa Mayer became chief at Yahoo! in July of last year, the company has racked up a series of acquisitions including startups Alike, Stamped, Snip.it and a Summly application built by a British teen.

Yahoo! is reported to be eyeing online video website Hulu after its bid to buy a majority stake in France-based Dailymotion was derailed in May.

Mayer’s plan for reviving the fortunes of the faded Internet pioneer includes making priorities of mobile devices, video, personalized digital content, and elevating the company’s popularity outside the United States.

AFP