Hasbro (HAS +1.41%) is rolling the dice on mobile gaming. The company announced that it has bought a 70% stake in Backflip Studios, a Colorado-based producer of titles for that segment of the market. The price was $112 million in cash.
Hasbro's new asset was founded in 2009 and produces a raft of games including Ragdoll Blaster, Gizmonauts, Army of Darkness Defense, and OutWorded. According to its new owner, Backflip Studios' titles have been downloaded more than 300 million times.
In the press release announcing the news, Hasbro quoted its CEO, Brian Goldner, as saying that "Backflip's leadership position, great games, and established network of users [make] Hasbro a more meaningful participant in digital gaming."
Hasbro expects that the acquisition will be "neutral to slightly accretive" to its fiscal 2013 results.
