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MZ

Machine Zone

Games & Interactive
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Founded
2008
Employees
11-50
Offices
2

About Machine Zone

Machine Zone develops and publishes free-to-play mobile games, with a particular focus on massively multiplayer strategy experiences. Its games combine persistent competition, alliance building and real-time communication for players across international markets. The studio’s capabilities include mobile game development, publishing, networking infrastructure and the ongoing operation of established games on iOS and Android.

Founded in 2008 by Gabriel Leydon, Halbert Nakagawa and Mike Sherrill, the business began as Addmired. Its earliest work involved social widgets for MySpace before it moved into mobile games. Early releases included Original Gangstaz, iMob and Global War Riot. The company adopted the Machine Zone name in 2012 and subsequently became known for large-scale mobile strategy games.

Strategy games and global communities

The 2013 launch of Game of War: Fire Age established a central direction for the studio: multiplayer conquest supported by technology that lets players communicate across language barriers. Its messaging architecture incorporated automatic translation, helping international alliances coordinate within the game.

Machine Zone expanded this approach with Mobile Strike in 2015, published through its Epic War subsidiary. It then collaborated with Square Enix on Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire, released in 2017 through Epic Action. Further releases included World War Rising, published through Mobile War, and the squad-based role-playing game Crystalborne: Heroes of Fate. These projects extended the company’s work beyond its original fantasy strategy setting into military strategy and character-focused mobile play.

A focus on established games

AppLovin acquired Machine Zone in May 2020. Following restructuring in late 2024 and early 2025, the studio concentrated on maintaining its established games through dedicated live operations, particularly Game of War: Fire Age and Mobile Strike.

In July 2025, Machine Zone joined the Tripledot group through AppLovin’s sale of its mobile gaming business. Its current operating focus remains the continued support of those longstanding mobile game communities.

More about Machine Zone

Early development and financing

  • The founders participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2008 accelerator cohort.
  • Menlo Ventures led an $8 million Series B financing round in 2012.

Technology beyond games

The 2016 MZ rebrand accompanied the unveiling of a Real-Time Engagement data platform, branded Satori / RTplatform, as the company expanded into real-time cloud infrastructure. It subsequently narrowed its focus back to games and divested non-game platform activities.

Historical leadership

Co-founder Gabriel Leydon stepped down in mid-2018, when Kristen Dumont became CEO. These are historical leadership appointments; the report does not identify a current studio CEO following the 2025 restructuring.

Marketing history

Major campaigns featured Kate Upton for Game of War and Arnold Schwarzenegger for Mobile Strike.

Notable credits

10 credits
  • Game of War: Fire Age
  • Mobile Strike (published through Epic War LLC)
  • Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire (with Square Enix; published through Epic Action LLC)
  • World War Rising (published through Mobile War LLC)
  • Crystalborne: Heroes of Fate
  • Final Fantasy XV: War for Eos
  • Original Gangstaz
  • iMob
  • iMob 2
  • Global War Riot

Offices

Current and former locations of Machine Zone

3 locations

  • San Francisco office

    San Francisco, California, United States

  • Wilmington office

    1521 Concord Pike, Suite 201, Wilmington, DE 19803, USAWilmington, Delaware, United States

    Registered corporate legal office and legal domicile.

    View map

  • Palo Alto offices

    Former office
    Palo Alto, California, United States
    About this office

    **Office** Status: inactive / historical Address: 1100 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA Historical headquarters campus. The report describes subsequent operations as largely remote and integrated into Tripledot's central platform. --- **Office** Status: inactive / historical Address: 1050 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, California, USA Additional premises identified within Machine Zone's historical Palo Alto headquarters campus. --- **Office** Status: inactive / historical Address: 2225 E Bayshore Rd, Palo Alto, California, USA Additional premises identified within Machine Zone's historical Palo Alto operations hub.

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