Viber acquires Nextpeer for $9m

Viber has announced its acquisition of Nextpeer, the firm behind social and multiplayer tools of the same name for games developers.

Viber is one of the world’s most popular messaging apps, boasting more than 600m users worldwide. Having recently released its own gaming service, the firm intends to use Nextpeer’s software and team to attract more users to Viber Games and improve discoverability on the platform.

Nextpeer’s tools focus on enabling games developers to add multiplayer features and social functions to their mobile titles. Its 12-person team will all be retained as Viber employees. 

The $9m acquisition also means that current Nextpeer customers will be able to use new tools and functionalities that take advantage of Viber’s ecosystem.

“We are delighted to welcome the Nextpeer team to the Viber family,” said Viber COO Michael Shmilov. “In the deal, we looked for a team that shares our passion, drives innovative thinking and brings its expertise in building an open platform for developers.”

Nextpeer co-founder and CEO Shai Magzimof adds: “Nextpeer’s vision is to bring social experiences to mobile players. We are teaming up with Viber to help connect players on mobile and deliver a powerful social platform for developers. We are all very excited to join the Viber team.”