Some of the biggest names in gaming restarted their merger and acquisition period in Q3, following an extended period of low activity, according to Drake Star’s latest Global Gaming Report.
In the year to date, a total of 746 deals have been struck throughout the industry with a combined value of $18.1 billion, including 120 mergers and acquisitions worth a combined $11 billion. Tencent and its subsidiaries emerged as the quarter’s leading dealmakers, including the acquisitions of Techland and Visual Arts, subsidiary Sumo Group’s acquisition of Midoki and subsidiary Supercell’s acquisition of PC and console developer Ultimate Studio, expanding its focus outside of mobile.
Additionally, Canadian developer Behaviour Interactive acquired Dutch co-development studio Codeglue (Now Behaviour Rotterdam), expanding its presence in Europe.
With seven deals over the quarter, mobile proved to be the second busiest market of the quarter in terms of deal activity, behind PC and console. North America proved to be the most popular region in terms of deal volume with 11 deals, followed by Europe with nine deals and Asia and other markets with a combined total of 13.
Let’s make a deal
The quarter proved lucrative in terms of private placements, with $1 billion raised over 185 deals. The majority of such deals were in the early stages, which made up $502 million and 157 deals. Mobile studios proved to be a particularly attractive option for deals, with 42 deals and $316 million in value – more than any other platform.
Candivore was identified as the largest mobile private placement deal of the quarter, and the largest of the quarter, with Haveli Investments purchasing a minority stake in the company for $100 million. Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner was close behind with $90 million incoming, bringing its valuation to $400 million. With $50 million raised, Israeli game maker WhaleApp was tied for fourth place in terms of deal value alongside esports company Veloce Media Group and AI character engine Inworld.
Bitkraft emerged as the most active investor of 2023 to date, with a total of 20 deals struck. Andreessen Horowitz came in second place with 13 investments, followed by Play Ventures with 10.
While Tencent is the top buyer of the year so far with five deals, it’s $45 million spending spree is dwarfed by Keywords Studios ($115 million over three deals), Playtika ($465 million over 2 deals), Sega ($755 million to acquire Finnish studio Rovio), and Savvy Games Group ($4.9 billion over three deals, including the acquisition of mobile giant Scopely).
We listed several of the companies named in this article as some of the top 50 mobile game makers of 2023.
