Website: Mousebreaker.com
What has happened? IPC has acquired the site for a seven-figure sum as it looks to enhance its youth reach
Owner: IPC Ignite
At first glance, this is a sensible decision, given the site's large user base in a growing vertical.
However, Mousebreaker's user demographic is split 56:44 between male and female users. While not diminishing Mousebreaker's overall numbers, this split does clash with IPC Ignite's intention of focusing on a young male audience.
Given casual gaming's affinity with females, a purchase by IPC in the specialist gaming sector may have made more sense, where the demographics are heavily male-skewed and the largest sites can command three times the users of Mousebreaker.
The site has a comprehensive selection of games that cater well to the variety of tastes of Flash gaming - this volume and range bode well for the future prospects of the site.
But, aesthetically, Mousebreaker could do with a lick of paint, with the site design looking trapped in the late 1990s. To make it a premium environment for advertisers and users, an upgrade will help, as Mousebreaker's strength in content is let down by its less-than-appealing design.
It's a smart move to have retained the two founders of the site for new game development, opening up the prospect of a significant revenue stream through "advergame" production and distribution, an attractive area for FMCG advertisers. MindShare's "Extreme Pamplona" advergame for Unilever achieved 30 million game plays on Miniclip, demonstrating this area's potential for Mousebreaker and its partner sites.
If IPC can develop the site beyond its current ad network dependency to a premium inventory model and capitalise on advergame production and distribution, then Mousebreaker could become a compelling package for media buyers.
What's good about the site? The breadth and diversity of its games.
What could be better? A bit of polish to make the site feel more like a premium environment.
Would I book my clients onto this? Not until the site has developed an approach beyond a reliance on ad network deals.
Anthony Thompson, account manager MindShare.