Mob Science, a social games developer and Zynga Platform partner, received $1 million in seed funding from Joynet CEO David Young and GameSpy Industries founder Mark Surfas.
This funding will aid Mob Science as they promote their new role-playing game to the 240 million monthly active users on the Zynga Platform. Mob Science operates several Facebook titles including inFamous Anarchy, Coffee Bar, Snowball Fight, and Willy’s Sweet Shop. Their new game will be one of the first third-party apps published across Zynga’s expansive network.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be building for the Zynga Platform,” said Michael Witz, founder and CEO of Mob Science. “We think it’s going to be a huge hit with gamers, and we are essentially bettering the future of our whole company on it.” Witz founded Mob Science in 2008 shortly after Facebook opened its platform to third-party developers.
“Our new game is far and away our best and most ambitious game yet, and we look forward to leveraging Zynga’s vast distribution channels and viral capabilities to get it into the hands of millions of gamers. You could say that our goal is to be the ‘Zynga’ of the Zynga Platform,” said Witz.
Mob Science recently signed a lease to move to Carlsbad, in the north county of San Diego, Calif. They intend to use the financing to invest in product development and expand the current 10-employee team as they hire more designers and engineers.
As part of the deal, Joynet CEO David Young (pictured right) will join Mob Science’s board of directors. “We really like the Mob Science team and everything they’ve done,” said Young. “It’s clear that they create fantastic consumer gaming experiences, and that they know how to engage with their users. But what really impressed us was their vision for tapping into the Zynga Platform and really pushing the envelope for what social games can be.”