News Corp. has acquired Irata Labs, a three-person San Francisco developer that builds games and other applications for social networks. Terms of the deal, closed late last week, were not disclosed.
Irata is best known for creating Spymaster, an espionage game that lets players use Twitter to perform cloak-and-dagger activities, such as ordering assassinations, securing a safe house or buying items on the black market. It’s believed to be the first game to use the microblogging platform. The developers also are building the technology that would allow it to incorporate a user’s location into game play.
I’m really on the fence about starting up coverage on News Corp. I’ve owned the stock in the past and have often thought they would make a move into the video game industry but this doesn’t really seem to be that move. It’s a three person team that makes games on social networks.
For now I’m going to hold off on regular News Corp coverage but I’ll keep an eye on them and if their investment in the industry goes beyond this I will add them to the list.
Full article here.
-Justin