Diner Dash was one of the first incarnations of the modern casual game: simple mechanics that are easy to learn and hard to master. Wikipedia says that publisher PlayFirst has seen over 550 million downloads of the game in its various versions, to say nothing of sequels and spin-offs. That's probably why Glu Mobile, one of the more visible mobile game publishers, has snatched up the company. Glu's stock priced jumped 8% this morning on the announcement.

Glu's press release says they they've acquired 3 million shares of PlayFirst stock and will be assuming $3.55 million in debt in the deal, which is expected to close next month. In addition to the Diner Dash series which has released games on the PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, and of course Android and iOS, PlayFirst has released other versions starring poster girl Flo, like Cooking Dash and Hotel Dash. The company has also created kid-focused licensed games for properties like SpongeBob Squarepants, Hotel Transylvania, and The Mortal Instruments. PlayFirst's games outside the primary "Dash" series don't seem to climb the charts in the same way.

Glu Mobile has been around since 2004, the same year that Diner Dash was first released, and has released dozens and dozens of games on Android and iOS, nearly all of them using the free-to-play model. While the company is certainly profitable and has its fans, a reliance on dual-currency systems and manipulative "free" marketing has made it poster child for everything wrong with the dominant in-app purchase style of mobile games. PlayFirst has already started work on a new Diner Dash title for late 2014, and you can bet your baloney sandwich that Glu will use its typical in-app purchase system for that game and all forthcoming PlayFirst properties.

Source: MarketWatch