Cloud Party, a California-based virtual gaming service, is Yahoo’s next acquisition.
The deal will see closure of the virtual gaming company, founded by a team of console game industry veterans, on February 21, 2014 after its team joins Yahoo notes Cloud Party in a blog post.
“We’re excited to announce that the time has come for the Cloud Party team to start our next adventure. We are joining Yahoo! The last two years have been an incredible experience for everyone here. We’ve been continually amazed by your creativity and the worlds you’ve built and shared with us”, wrote Cloud Party CEO Sam Thompson.
Cloud Party was launched in 2011 as a three-dimensional, multiplayer gaming platform similar to the online system Second Life, where players could generate their own 3D content and explore immersive virtual environments.
Yahoo, which has its own games portal that lets users play online games, is yet to have an in-browser virtual world similar to Cloud Party. Although Cloud Party may not immediately provide Yahoo with sweeping new virtual gaming worlds for the users, but this new acquisition could improve the company’ own gaming offerings.
A Yahoo spokesperson said: “Yahoo has acquired Cloud Party, a company that has created a virtual 3D experience, directly in users’ browser… We’re excited to merge their unique perspective and experience with a team that is just as passionate about gaming.”
Yahoo’s acquisition of PlayerScale, a company which offers infrastructure software, last year indicated the company’s interest in gaming.
