Chris DeWolfe’s SGN gaming company acquires Mob Science

SGN, the social gaming company led by Myspace co-founder Chris DeWolfe, has acquired Carlsbad-based game developer Mob Science, the shop behind “Legends: Rise of a Hero,” the company said Thursday.

The deal will add Mob Science’s 11 employees to SGN’s current 80-person staff, along with its portfolio of games, and increase its user base to 350 million from 300 million.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

SGN, headquartered in Los Angeles, has been bolstering its staff as competitor Zynga downsizes.

DeWolfe, who left Myspace in 2009, said the company’s games are designed to work across all platforms people want to use, including iOS and Android mobile devices and Facebook.

“If you bet too heavily on one platform, it’s not a good place to be,” said DeWolfe. “You never know what’s going to happen to that one platform in terms of traffic and policy.”

DeWolfe said the company, which he said has doubled its revenue annually, is able to pay for the acquisition using its profits. Mob Science will remain in its Carlsbad offices.

Along with Zynga, SGN competes with “Clash of Clans” maker Supercell and “Candy Crush” maker King.

SGN games, such as “Panda Jam,” are designed to be engaging and simple to learn, DeWolfe said. The company makes money from advertising and sales of virtual goods within the games.

SGN plans to make one or two more acquisitions this year, DeWolfe said. He has brought on employees from Zynga, which recently cut 18% of its staff.

Still, he wants to avoid expanding too rapidly, a problem many startups have encountered. “I learned my lesson at Myspace by hiring too many people too quickly,” he said.

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