One of the biggest companies in mobile is changing its name — SGN is out, and Jam City is in.
SGN, which was short for Social Gaming Network, is rebranding because its name was a “corporate acronym that lacked the spirit of our products,” CEO Chris DeWolfe said in a statement. The new, punchier name for the 500-person company harnesses “the success of our games — particularly, our ‘Jam’ game franchise — to animate our studio’s identity.”
The newly minted Jam City has been responsible for several major mobile successes, including licensed titles like “Marvel Avengers Academy” and “Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff” as well as its original intellectual properties “Panda Pop” and “Cookie Jam.”
Along with the rebranding announcement, Jam City also revealed that it has licensed the “Peanuts” IP and will be producing a mobile game based on the famous cartoon and comic strip. This will be the first major attempt at a “Peanuts” mobile game.
DeWolfe told TheWrap that the company expects it to be one of the top games on Google Play and the iOS App store, citing the sustained success of the games from which Jam City is taking its new name, “Cookie Jam” and “Juice Jam,” which pull in 30 million player sessions daily between them.
Jam City’s prioritization of licensed properties shouldn’t overwhelm its continued focus on developing its own mobile franchises, DeWolfe told TheWrap. He said the company’s attention will be split evenly between its third-party agreements and its original properties, taking a “half and half” approach as it moves into the Jam City era.
Founded in 2010 by Josh Yguado and MySpace co-founders DeWolfe and Aber Whitcomb, the Los Angeles-based Jam City came up quickly in the mobile and social gaming space and earlier this year purchased TinyCo, the developer responsible for “Marvel Avengers Academy” and “Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff.”