Lolapps

Lolapps was a developer and publisher of social games on the Facebook platform. Lolapps was best known for creating Ravenwood Fair with John Romero which had 25 million players worldwide.[1]

Lolapps
IndustryVideo games
Founded2007 (2007)
FounderBrian Rue, Kamo Asatryan, Annie Chang, Kavin Stewart
Successor6waves Lolapps
ProductsRavenwood Fair

In 2011, Lolapps merged with social games publisher 6waves to become 6waves Lolapps.[2][3][4] Combined, the companies had 35 million monthly active users which made 6waves Lolapps the second largest game publisher on Facebook behind Zynga.[5]

History

Lolapps was founded in 2007 by Brian Rue, Kamo Asatryan, Annie Chang, and Kavin Stewart.[6] It started with Quiz Creator, a Facebook app that allowed users to create their own quizzes and invite their friends to play.[6] Based on the growth of Quiz Creator and Gift Creator—a gift creation app—the company raised $4.5 million in funding from Polaris Partners in the fall of 2008.

In 2009, Lolapps acquired social gaming company Roflplay and its founder, Arjun Sethi, became CEO of Lolapps. By 2010, Lolapps had 100 million users, making it competitive in social gaming with Zynga and CrowdStar.[6]

Game designer Brenda Romero joined Lolapps in May 2010. She brought on John Romero to work on Lolapps' new title Ravenwood Fair, which launched in October 2010. By March 2011, Ravenwood Fair had 25 million users worldwide.[1]

In July 2011, Lolapps merged with social games publisher 6waves to form 6waves Lolapps.[2] Later that year in August, South Korean video game publisher Nexon invested $35 million on 6waves Lolapps.[7]

In March 2012, 6waves Lolapps laid off its development team—many of whom came from the Lolapps merger—to focus on game publishing.[7] Later in March, 6waves Lolapps rebranded itself as 6waves, dropping Lolapps from its name.[8]

In January 2022, Stillfront Group acquired 6waves for $201M.[9]

Controversy

In October 2010, the Wall Street Journal discovered that a number of Facebook apps—including Lolapps apps—were transmitting Facebook user data to third parties like ad networks and user tracking services.[10]

The Journal found that some LOLapps applications, as well as the Family Tree application, were transmitting users' Facebook ID numbers to [internet tracking service] RapLeaf. RapLeaf then linked those ID numbers to dossiers it had previously assembled on those individuals, according to RapLeaf. RapLeaf then embedded that information in an Internet-tracking file known as a "cookie."[11]

Facebook considered this a policy violation and suspended Lolapps and other offending apps.[12] Two days later, Lolapps came back online after dissolving its relationship with RapLeaf.[13]

References
  1. "LOLapps launches a novel expansion for Ravenwood Fair Facebook game". February 22, 2011. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  2. "Lolapps merges with 6waves to build social gaming powerhouse". July 18, 2011. Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  3. "Lolapps Merges With 6waves to Develop and Publish Social Games Internationally". Archived from the original on 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  4. Geron, Tomio. "Lolapps Merges With 6Waves In Social Gaming Developer-Publisher Tie-Up". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2011-08-22. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  5. "Nexon invests in social gaming firm 6waves Lolapps (exclusive)". August 4, 2011. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  6. "LOLapps thrives as under-the-radar Facebook social game maker". September 6, 2010. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  7. "6waves Lolapps Sheds Most Of Its Development Team To Focus on Publishing Games". Archived from the original on 2020-01-01. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  8. "6waves drops "Lolapps" name entirely, announces publishing deals with 32 social developers". www.adweek.com. Archived from the original on 2020-03-23. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  9. "Stillfront acquires 6Waves for $201m". www.gamesindustry.biz. 21 January 2022. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  10. "LOLApps Back On Facebook After UID Issues". Archived from the original on 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  11. Fowler, Emily Steel And Geoffrey A. (October 18, 2010). "Facebook in Privacy Breach". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 23, 2020 – via www.wsj.com.
  12. "Using Facebook UIDs". Facebook for Developers. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  13. Hachman, Mark (October 18, 2010). "LOLapps Returns After Facebook UID Issue". PCMag UK. Archived from the original on March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
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