NCSoft invests $5m in mobile start-up

This Game Studio is a new mobile development team headed up by ex-Kabam execs, and it's just received a $5 million investment from NCSoft.

It's the new baby of Chris Ko, previously the GM for North America at Kabam and Scott Blackwood, Heather Price, and Ian Szufnara, formerly of Exploding Barrel Games.

"Our focus is on building fun games first, and profitable ones," Ko told GamesBeat.

"We want games that are fun and engaging with sensible monetization. We've made games for 20 years, and we have a specific philosophy about doing them in a way that is creative. We think there is a way to build a successful game and build a studio. We are grateful to Kabam and [have] learned a lot. "

Exploding Barrel Games created Kingdoms of Camelot and Margaritaville Online and was acquired by Kabam in January 2013.

This new team currently has around ten employees and aims to grow that to around 30. It's also currently planning deals to use entertainment IPs for its titles, but nothing has been confirmed as yet.

"This is part of our desire to work with some of the best mobile-game developers in the world," added senior vice president of corporate development at NCSoft West Michael Chang.

"You will see us become more active on investments and acquisitions in the West. This is our first exposure to the Canadian game development community."

Chang will also join This Game Studio's board.