OpenFeint purchased by Gree for $104 million

Japanese mobile social network Gree has recently lost some weight in their bank account – to the tune of $104 million, to be exact, after it decided to part with that kind of money in order to bring mobile social game platform operator OpenFeint under their stable.

Of course, there are pros and cons associated with buying out a company, as you not only retain ownership of the intellectual property and technology of the acquired frm without having to pump out money for R&D yourself, but it also comes with its own set of problems and challenges as well, including those that were not of your own doing. 

News of Gree picking up OpenFeint makes the headlines in some papers because it isn’t too often that you hear of Japanese companies purchasing another company that is located all the way across the Pacific, and in this case, we’re talking about OpenFeint from Burlingame, California. OpenFeint operates a social platform for mobile games, delivering features including multiplayer challenges, leaderboards, and cross promotion. Since Gree has over 25 million users and a market value of $3 billion in the Land of the Rising Sun, it makes perfect sense to obtain OpenFeint’s operational capabilities to further expand their business.