Research In Motion buys social gaming start-up

BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion has purchased social gaming start-up Scoreloop, suggesting the company is attempting to diversify its entertainment offerings.

“Scoreloop is a pioneer in mobile social gaming and offers a customisable and cross-platform social mobile gaming developer tool kit,” RIM said in a statement.

The company said it will integrate Scoreloop with the developer community “to take gaming to a new level of social integration”.

The move comes as social gaming is heating up in Silicon Valley. Market leader Zynga, maker of the popular Farmville game, is reportedly investigating a float that would value the company at several billion dollars.