DeNA gobbles up Chilean Little Cave Hero maker Atakama Labs

The Little Cave Hero just moved on to a much bigger cave. VentureBeat reports that DeNA has acquired Chilean social game developer Atakama Labs for an undisclosed amount, though the website recalls that the price might be around $6 million. Atakama Labs is best known for quirky Facebook games like Little Cave Hero and artsy iPhone games like Today I Die Again.

It appears that this acquisition was made with specific interest in Atakama, founded by Esteban Sosnik and Tiburcio de la Carcova after fleeing to Santiago, Chile in search of political and economic stability, helping DeNA's mobile efforts. Namely, Atakama Labs will work with DeNA-owned Ngmoco to support the Mobage mobile social game network.

The mobile scene will likely be the next major battlefield for social game creators, especially as social game developers and publishers focus more and more resources on creating the next top 10 app. Most recently, Zynga revealed that it's working on another mobile version of Mafia Wars after shuttering its existing HTML5 endeavor. This question remains, however: Will it be quality games or robust networks that will decide who wins the mobile social gaming wars?

Do you think this was a wise move on DeNA's part to acquire Atakama Labs? What types of games do you hope to see from Atakama now that it's with the Mobage network? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.