Game developer Kabam reveals its mobile ambitions

The fortunes of some of the world's leading information technology companies were famously started in the modest trappings of somebody's garage. Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Dell all shared that humble beginning.

When entrepreneur Kevin Chou co-founded video game developer Kabam in 2006, the company took another route. Chou, who serves as chief executive, said the company "had about 25 people working above a dim sum restaurant in Mountain View", a city in the heart of California's Silicon Valley.

Co-founder Michael Li said they all had many meals at the dim sum place and became good friends with the owner. "Since we moved our offices to San Francisco, the owner still caters dim sum to us for lunch about once or twice a month," Li said.

There may be something about the frequent meals of the popular Cantonese dishes that helped fuel Kabam's perseverance over its initial years.

"It has been an amazing experience because the company has gone through several business models until we figured out which one would be successful and sustainable," Li said.

Kabam did not start as a gaming company. It initially made applications for Facebook around popular US television shows and movies, and then switched to gaming. It has prospered in the so-called "freemium" market segment, in which games are initially downloaded for free to users and then virtual merchandise is offered to help players take on a game's advanced levels.