Lionside

Lionside, established in 2009 by co-founders Brandon Barber and Ali Nazer, carved its niche as a developer of social and mobile sports games. Based in San Francisco, the company focused on merging social gaming mechanics with the strong affinity fans have for sports teams and figures. This strategy led to the creation of the popular Facebook game "NBA Legend" and over 20 games for the iPhone, including titles centered around sports icons.

The company's operations were financed through seed funding, securing approximately $1.52 million in March 2010 and another $1.6 million in October 2010. Key investors included Sherpalo Ventures, Sandwith Ventures, SV Angel, and Partners Fund Capital. This capital supported the development and marketing of its portfolio in the competitive entertainment software industry.

Lionside's business model centered on developing and publishing free-to-play games for prominent social and mobile platforms like Facebook. The primary market consisted of sports fans who engaged with online social gaming. The company's trajectory culminated in its acquisition by Ngmoco on September 13, 2011, marking its exit from the market as an independent entity. Following the acquisition, the company was categorized as acqui-hired and eventually became inactive or "deadpooled".

Keywords: social gaming, mobile games, sports games, Facebook games, NBA Legend, iPhone games, Brandon Barber, Ali Nazer, Ngmoco acquisition, Sherpalo Ventures, Sandwith Ventures, entertainment software, free-to-play, social network games, online gaming, video game developer