SGN chief bets on the rise of Hollywood franchises in mobile games

Hollywood and games have had a weak bond when it comes to making money from each other. But in the era of mobile games, that is starting to change, said Chris DeWolfe, the chief executive of Los Angeles-based SGN.

That kind of thinking drove SGN’s recent acquisition of TinyCo, which had a close Hollywood connection with games such as Mavel: Avengers Academy. The attitude is a lot different from the past, when Hollywood intellectual property owners just thought of games as minor brand extensions for a movie or TV show.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks. 

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.