MAG Interactive

MAG Interactive is a Swedish mobile game developer and publisher founded in 2010 by Daniel Hasselberg, Roger Skagervall, Kaj Nygren, Johan Persson, Fredrik Stenh and Anders Larsson.[1] Best known for its debut word game Ruzzle, and quiz game QuizDuel, MAG Interactive focuses on the casual games market by developing and acquiring social and educational based games for iOS, Android.[2]

MAG Interactive
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded2010 (2010)
Founders
  • Daniel Hasselberg
  • Roger Skagervall
  • Kaj Nygren
  • Johan Persson
  • Fredrik Stenh
  • Anders Larsson
Headquarters
Stockholm
,
Sweden
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Daniel Hasselberg (CEO)

Magnus Wiklander (CFO)

Kaj Nygren (CTO)
ProductsQuizDuel, Wordzee, WordDomination, Ruzzle, WordBrain
Number of employees
114
ParentMobile Access Group Sweden AB
Websitemaginteractive.com

History

Founding

Before creating MAG interactive, founders Daniel Hasselberg and Kaj Nygren met in 1999 while working at an Ericsson research lab. Together with mutual friend Roger Skagervall, they created a small company called "Connect Things". From that company, the three entrepreneurs went on to create "Mobile Access Group Sweden AB" in 2003, which originally focused on music streaming platforms.[3] With the addition of Anders Larsson, Frederik Stenh and Johan Persson, Mobile Access Group Sweden AB transitioned into app development consulting in 2008. Four years later in 2012, the now named MAG Interactive, released their first proprietary game onto the Swedish market . The word play based game was called "Rumble" and went on to be renamed "Ruzzle", it is the cornerstone of MAG's game line up. From that point on MAG acquired many other social game concepts, including "Word Brain" and QuizDuel.[4][5]

Acquiring Delinquent

In 2015 MAG Interactive acquired UK-based development studio Delinquent, increasing their staff number to 50 people. Their first joint project was a free-to-play match-3 game, Potion Pop, which successfully received millions of downloads.[6]

Acquiring FEO Media and IPO

In 2017, MAG Interactive underwent some structural changes as a company. The first being the October acquisition of Swedish game studio FEO Media, maker of QuizDuel.[7] In addition to the acquisition, MAG Interactive became a publicly traded company on December 8, with its listing on NASDAQ First North.[8]

Acquiring Sventertainment

August 2020 MAG Interactive announced the acquisition of Swedish media company Sventertainment AB, maker of the live trivia app PrimeTime, for 20 million SEK.[9]

Acquiring Apprope

December 2020, MAG Interactive announced the acquisition of Swedish game studio Apprope through an initial cash purchase price of 50 million SEK.[10] Founded in 2012 by Daniel Lodin and Markus Wedenborn, Apprope is a maker of casual mobile games for iOS & Android including titles such as WordBubbles and Word Mansion.

Awards

Tech 5 2014 - Jury Prize[11]

Hit Bolagen 2014 - #1[12]

Deloitte Fast 50. 2015 - #7 Growth rate 929% between 2011 and 2014[13]

Deloitte Fast 50 2016 - #17 Growth rate 688% between 2012 and 2015 [13]

Inc 5000 2017 - #914[14]

Games

In 2012 MAG Interactive published its first mobile game Ruzzle, other games created by MAG Interactive include Wordzee, Word Domination, New QuizDuel, PaintHit, WordBrain, WordBrain 2, PotionPop, Wordalot, Wordalot Express, QuizCross, and Ruzzle Adventure. Each game has a multi-million player base that collectively reached 350+ million downloads as of 2020.[2]

List of Games Developed/Published by MAG Interactive
Game Release date Description
Ruzzle 2012 Similar to Boggle, players have two minutes to form as many words as possible with sixteen letters available in a 4x4 grid on the screen.
Quiz Cross 2012 A combination of Tic-Tac-Toe and trivia, it lets players challenge their Facebook friends or random opponents in a trivia duel in each players native language.
Word Brain 2013 A game based on classic Word Search , the players are tasked with finding one or several specific scrambled words on a puzzle grid and in a specific order.
Ruzzle Adventure 2014 Based on Ruzzle but presented it in a different way. The progression in the game is based on levels spanning through five worlds: The Forest, The Swamp, The Volcano, Area 42 and The Lost Island.
Potion Pop 2015 A match-3 swapping tile game where players swipe to swap adjacent potions in order to match three or more of the same color.
Word Brain 2 2016 A a sequel to the word game Word Brain , this game differs from the original by adding a theme to each puzzle.
Wordalot 2016 A crossword puzzle type game, it hides clues to missing words in images placed above the crossword board.
Wordalot Express 2016 A a quick version of Word-A-Lot without the option to change levels.
Backpacker 2017 A mobile travel quiz game, based on the 90's computer game Backpacker. Created by the games studio Qiiwi and published by MAG Interacive .
WordDomination 2018 A PvP mobile crossword game with collectable boosters that allows for additional strategic game play.
PaintHit 2018 Hyper casual mobile game where players shoot paint balls towards targets on spinning towers.
Wordzee 2019 Casual PvP word game, with game mechanics inspired by the classic dice game Yatzy.
New QuizDuel 2020 A sequel to the PvP trivia game QuizDuel, introduces the addition of the multiplayer "arena", and a live quiz mode.

References
  1. Nijhof, Arno (2016-11-28). "Growth Story TNW | MAG Created good times factory reached 100 million players". The Next Web. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  2. "MAG in brief - MAG Interactive". www.maginteractive.com. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  3. "MAG Interactive - Daniel Hasselberg - Outlier Magazine". Outlier Magazine. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  4. Sawers, Paul (2013-01-10). "Mag Interactive: Meet The Folk Behind Ruzzle". The Next Web. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  5. "MAG Interactive Acquires FEO Media Invision Game Community".
  6. Strauss, Karsten. "Hit Game Developer MAG Snaps Up Delinquent". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  7. Leijonhufvud, Jonas (2017-10-19). "Ruzzle-utvecklaren Mag köper Quizkampens FEO Media". Dagens industri (in Swedish). Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  8. "Investor Relations - MAG Interactive". Archived from the original on 2018-10-31. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  9. "MAG Interactive (publ) acquires Primetime - MAG Interactive". www.maginteractive.com. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  10. "MAG Interactive (publ) acquires Swedish game developer Apprope - MAG Interactive". www.maginteractive.com. Retrieved 2021-08-09.
  11. Ong, Josh (2014-04-25). "MAG Interactive Wins TNW Europe 2014's Tech5". The Next Web. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  12. "Därför är Mag årets hetaste it-företag". Computer Sweden (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  13. "Deloitte Technology Fast 50 | Deloitte Sverige". www.fast50.se. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  14. "The 2017 Inc. 5000 Europe List | Inc.com". www.inc.com. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
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