Glu Mobile

Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of mobile games. It was founded as Sorrent in 2001 and acquired Macrospace in 2004. Both companies collectively rebranded as Glu Mobile in 2005. In April 2021, the company was acquired by Electronic Arts.
History
Glu Mobile was founded as Sorrent in 2001. In December 2004, Sorrent acquired the London-based Macrospace. In June 2005 the merged company created a new corporate name: Glu Mobile. That same year, Greg Ballard replaced Sorrent founder Scott Orr as CEO. In 2006, Glu Mobile acquired iFone and in 2007 it acquired Chinese mobile game producer Beijing Zhangzhong MIG Information Technology Co. Ltd. ("MIG"). In September 2007, Glu announced the launch of Asteroids for mobile phones. In March 2008, Glu acquired San Clemente-based mobile developer Superscape.
In January 2010, Niccolo de Masi joined Glu Mobile as the President and CEO. De Masi was previously CEO at Hands-On Mobile. Since his arrival, Glu has transitioned to a freemium business model focused around Glu's original IP.
On August 2, 2011, Glu acquired Griptonite Games. Its staff of 200 "approximately double[d]" Glu's internal development capacity.
In April 2012, Glu acquired the entire Deer Hunter franchise.
Glu Mobile bought Gamespy Technologies (the entity responsible for GameSpy multiplayer services) from IGN Entertainment in August 2012, and proceeded in December to raise integration costs and shut down servers for many older games, including the Star Wars: Battlefront series, Sniper Elite, Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Neverwinter Nights, with no warning to developers or consumers. GameSpy Technologies remained operational and did not make any announcements of an impending shutdown; the two GameSpy companies were separate entities and only related by name. Glu also shut down online multiplayer servers for several titles on the Nintendo DS and Wii, such as Mario Kart DS, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Mario Kart Wii. Glu shut down the rest of Gamespy effective on May 31, 2014.
On September 3, 2014, PlayFirst was acquired by Glu. The official statement from Glu Mobile CEO Niccolo de Masi read "We are pleased to officially add PlayFirst to the Glu family and look forward to delivering new DASH products to a worldwide audience."
In April 2015, Chinese company Tencent paid $126 million for a 15% stake in Glu Mobile. It had 20.8% as of 2017.
On December 22, 2016, it was announced that Glu Mobile had acquired the trivia game QuizUp for 7.5 million. On January 20, 2021, QuizUp was removed from appstores, and on January 21, 2021, it was announced that QuizUp will be discontinued on March 22, 2021. Since then, all purchases are disabled.
In November 2016, Nick Earl became CEO. The majority stake of Glu shares are held by institutions: at the start of the third quarter of 2012, institutional ownership was 78% of the outstanding shares according to Google Finance.
Electronic Arts announced in February 2021 that it plans to acquire Glu in a deal estimated at US$2.4 billion. On the same day of the announcement of the deal, it was revealed that the companies expect the acquisition to close in the second quarter of 2021. In April 2021, EA completed the acquisition of Glu Mobile.
Games
1000: Find 'Em All
5-Card Draw Poker
Adidas All-Star Football
Age of Empires III Mobile
ALIENS: Unleashed
Alpha Wing 2
Amazing Battle Creatures (ABC)
Ancient Empires
Ancient Empires II
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Asteroids
AstroPop
ATV Off-Road Fury
Baldur's Gate
Battleship
Beat It!
Big Time Gangsta
Blackjack Hustler
Blood & Glory
Blood & Glory 2: Legend
Bombshells: Hell's Belles
Bonsai Blast
Brain Genius
Brain Genius 2
Brain Genius 2 Deluxe
Brain Genius Deluxe
Brian Lara International Cricket 2007
Britney Spears: American Dream
Bush vs. Kerry Boxing
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty: Black Ops Mobile
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – Force Recon (based on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2)
Call of Duty: World at War
Cannons
Cannons Tournament
Car Town
Centipede
Chaos Engine
Chu Chu Rocket
Cluedo
Cluedo SFX
Concentration
Codename: KND MINIGAMES
Colin McRae DiRT Mobile
Cooking Dash
Contract Killer
Contract Killer 2
Contract Killer Sniper
Contract Killer: Zombies
Contract Killer: Zombies 2
Courage the Cowardly Dog: Haunted House
Cooking Dash
Crash 'N' Burn
Crash 'N' Burn Turbo
Daily Puzzle
Death Dome
Deer Hunter
Deer Hunter 2
Deer Hunter 3
Deer Hunter Reloaded
Deer Hunter 3D
Deer Hunter Challenge
Deer Hunter Classic
Design Home
Dexter's Laboratory: Security Alert!
Digimon Racing
Diner Dash
Diner Dash 2: Restaurant Rescue
Diner Dash 3
Diner Dash 5: Boom!
Diner Dash: Flo on the Go
Diner Dash: Flo Through Time
Diner Dash: Hometown Hero
Diner Dash Adventures (App Store)
Dino Hunter: Deadly Shores
Disney Sorcerer's Arena
Dominoes
Dragon Island
Driver 3 (mobile version)
Driver: Vegas
Ed, Edd n Eddy: Giant Jawbreakers
Enchant U
Eternity Warriors
Eternity Warriors 2
Eternity Warriors 3
everGirl everGems
Family Feud
Family Guy: Time Warped
Family Guy: Uncensored
Fatal Force: Earth Assault
Foster's Home: Balloon Bonanza
FOX Sports Football '06
Frontline Commando
Frontline Commando 2
Frontline Commando: D-Day
Frontline Commando: WW2 Shooter
Game of Life
Gears & Guts
Get Cookin
Glyder
Glyder 2
Guitar Hero 5
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Gun Bros (Windows Phone)
Hero Project
Hercules
High Heels MahJong: In Her Shoes
Hog On the Run
HOYLE 6-in-1 Solitaire Pro
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Ice Age: The Meltdown
Indestructible
Infected
Insaniquarium Deluxe
Inuyasha
Jamaican Bobsled
Kasparov Chess
Kim Kardashian: Hollywood
Kendall and Kylie
Katy Perry Pop
Kingdom of Heaven
Lemmings
Lemmings Return
Lil Kingdom
LMA Manager 2008
Love a Lemming
Manchester United Football
Marc Ecko's Getting Up
Mech Battalion
Men vs. Machines
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2018
MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2019
MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2020
MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2021
Monopoly
MONOPOLY HERE & NOW
Monsters vs. Aliens
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
My Dragon
Nicki Minaj: The Empire
Project Gotham Racing Mobile
QuizUp
Racing Rivals
Ren & Stimpy Pinball
Restaurant DASH with Gordon Ramsay
Reversi
Robots
Samurai VS Zombies Defence
Samubies Defense 2
Scooby-Doo!: Castle Capers
Scooby-Doo! 2: Dark Dungeons
Shadowalker
SIMON
Small Street
Sniper X
Space Monkey
Speedball 2 Brutal Deluxe
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (DS version)
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (DS version)
SpongeBob SquarePants: Prom of Doom
Star Blitz
Stardom: The A-List
Stardom: Hollywood
Stranded
Stranded: Mysteries of Time
Super KO Boxing 2
Super KO Boxing!
Tap Sports Baseball 2015
Tap Sports Baseball 2016
Tap Sports Baseball 2017
Tavern Quest
The Chaos Engine
The Flintstones Bedrock Bowling
The Flintstones: Grocery Hunt
The Lord of the Rings: Middle-Earth Defense
The Powerpuff Girls: Bad Mojo
The Price Is Right
The Swift Life
Tom and Jerry: Cheese Chase
Tom and Jerry: Food Fight
Tony Hawk: Vert
Terminator Genisys: Revolution
Transformers (based on the film of the same name)
Transformers G1: Awakening
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
VBirds
Virtua Tennis
Wacky Races
Watchmen (based on the film of the same name)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?: Celebrity Edition
World Series of Poker – Hold'em Legend
World Series of Poker – Pro Challenge
World Series of Poker Player Advisor
World Series of Poker: Texas Hold'em
Yogi Bear Pic-A-Nic
Zuma
References
External links
2005 establishments in California
2021 mergers and acquisitions
American companies established in 2005
Companies based in San Francisco
Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
Electronic Arts subsidiaries
Mobile game companies
Video game companies established in 2005
Video game development companies
Video game publishers