Lord of The Rings, Fast & Furious Mobile Game Developer Gets $120 Million Investment From Chinese Internet Giant Alibaba

The San Francisco-based free-to-play mobile game developer Kabam secured a $120 million investment from Chinese Internet company Alibaba, Kabam has announced.

Kabam will also enter into a “strategic collaboration” with Alibaba, which will publish Kabam’s mobile games in China across Alibaba Group’s mobile applications, introducing it to a huge (and potentially hugely profitable) new audience.

Kabam makes its own original games like Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North, and Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon, as well games based on popular movie franchises like The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth and Fast & Furious 6: The Game.

“Truly successful games companies have to be globally successful,” Kabam’s CEO Kevin Chou said. “This strategic collaboration with Alibaba provides Kabam the resources, infrastructure and distribution to help bring our current and future durable franchise games to China and elsewhere in Asia and make an immediate impact.”

Existing investors in Kabam include Google Ventures, Warner Bros., MGM, Intel, Canaan Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Pinnacle Ventures and others.

Kabam didn’t disclose the terms of the investment, but said that the company is now valued at $1 billion.