Glu Mobile acquires Diner Dash developer PlayFirst

Free-to-play mobile game developer and publisher Glu Mobile has acquired Diner Dash studio PlayFirst.

As part of the deal Glu will take on Playfirst’s debts of $3.55m. The acquisition is expected to be officially completed by the end of May.

The casual game studio’s Dash series of titles, which includes Diner Dash, Cooking Dash, Hotel Dash and Wedding Dash, have been downloaded more than 750 million times.

The next Diner Dash game is expected to be released later this year, with new free-to-play versions of Cooking Dash and Wedding Dash slated for 2015.

"PlayFirst brings to Glu one of the largest casual gaming brands of all time, as well as the studio-DNA to take Glu’s casual portfolio to ever greater heights,” said Glu CEO Niccolo de Masi.

“We are delighted to add PlayFirst to the Glu family and look forward to the launch of a free-to-play Diner Dash mobile game in Q4 2014.”

Glu Mobile also reported strong growth year-on-year in its latest financial report. The company achieved record Q1 GAAP revenues of $44.6m and increased its 2014 non-GAAP revenue guidance.