Playdom buys social devs Merscom

Playdom has announced the acquisition of online and social devs Merscom for an undisclosed sum.

Carolina-based Merscom is currently working on titles for Sea World, Purina, National Geographic and NBC Universal.

Playdom has said it plans to leverage Mercom’s expertise in working with IP owners as it moves to develop partnerships with international brands.

Playdom also stated its plans to use the acquisition “to leverage the talented North Carolina game development community.”

Merscom’s core team has produced over 250 titles. Prior to 2009 it primarily worked with international engineering resources. Today the company uses in-house engineering staff to build as well as produce titles.

“We believe that brands matter and that over time, as the social gaming industry matures, games which incorporate content from popular culture and widely respected brands will garner larger market share than those without it,” said Playdom CEO John Pleasants.

“Merscom has 16 years experience working with content owners and we intend to call on this experience as we move into this promising area of our industry,” he added.

“We are excited to join Playdom, they understand the power of branded content and decentralized international game development where we’ve focused our efforts for many years,” said Merscom CEO Kirk Owen.

“Merscom’s team will thrive in Playdom’s culture of respect for its employees and its great benefit programs. We can’t wait to get started,” he concluded.