Deal Tracker 2017: All the biggest M&A activity and deals in the mobile games industry
We're keeping track of the biggest deals in the mobile games industry through our deal tracker, which links to all the stories as they happen and offers a great at-a-glance view of what's going on in the industry.
The games industry, particularly the mobile space, is abuzz with M&A activity, funding rounds and partnerships every week.
Keeping track
So throughout 2017 we'll be doing monthly round-ups of these deals and analysing the emerging trends.
Click on the link below to take a look at the games industry deals and trends shaping 2017..
#1: Games industry deals in January
2017 started with a bang after a consortium of investors from Asia, represented by United Luck Group Holdings Limited, acquired Talking Tom developer Outfit7 for $1 billion.
The deal was a surprise, but shows the reach Outfit7 has through its portfolio of apps that includes the aforementioned Talking Tom and its latest title, My Talking Hank (a talking dog).
Previous reports had claimed the deal was led by Chinese chemical firm Zhejiang Jinke Entertainment Culture, though this has not been officially confirmed.
The acquisition is the latest in a string of strange big money deals from Asia, and particularly China, that are now seemingly common place.
Previous similar acquisitions include a Chinese textile company buying Shanda Games for $1.9 billion, Chinese Mobile Games and Entertainment being bought out by a Chinese auto group for $1 billion, a building company acquiring FunPlus for $1 billion and a Chinese chicken supplier snapping up UK studio Splash Damage.
Asia and VR
Though the biggest deal in Asia last month for games, it was far from the only one.
Japanese loud infrastructure firm GMO Cloud acquired the exclusive rights to Marmalade Technologies’ Marmalade SDK for an undisclosed sum.
The move will be a boon for developers using the platform after Marmalade announced in September 2016 it was ceasing development of it altogether. The last update had been expected for March 2017, but the tech will now continue to be supported.
Exactly what the deal means for customers remains to be seen, however.
Japan mobile games publisher Gumi meanwhile partnered with non-profit EUVR to bring virtual reality investment to European developers. Those who partner with the scheme will be given better access to investment opportunities and incubation programs from Asia.
It comes after Gumi contributed to the $50 million Venture Reality Fund, a scheme that South Korea-based developer YJM Games also invested in during January 2017, with the latter company promising to spend more on AR, VR and MR in the coming years.
It shows just how popular VR is becoming in Asian markets, and that a number of companies consider is potential enough to make big bets on its future.
Marketing mix
One of the biggest stories outside of Asia was the news that mobile measurement firm AppsFlyer raised $56 million in a Series C fund round.
The company claimed it had measured an estimated $6 billion in mobile ad spent in 2016, while worldwide spend on marketing is expected to surpass $1 trillion in 2017.
The marketing space is certainly heating up in games, as the financing round follows Apptopia’s own $2.7 million funding round in November 2016, the sale of marketing platform AppLovin to a Chinese investment firm for $1.4 billion in September 2016 and the $63 million raised by analytics and app market data firm App Annie in January 2016.
Elsewhere in the West there was some consolidation in the tech space with Microsoft’s acquisition of 3D optimisation tool Simplygon for an undisclosed fee.
King meanwhile purchased analytics firm Omniata, whose clients had included Rovio, EA Mobile, Social Point and Miniclip.
It’s not clear whether Omniata is still open for use by third-party developers, but if it is, it becomes part of a growing portfolio of tools and services by King, which also makes its game engine Defold freely available to developers.
Another notable deal, but one outside of the tech space, was games crowdfunding platform Fig’s $7.8 million investment round.
It aims to use the funding to help it grow and accommodate more campaigns. Unlike Kickstarter, Fig enables equity-based crowdfunding that gives investors the ability to make returns on the money they put in.
It's evidence the crowdfunding space continues to be alive and well. Two currently active campaigns on the platform, Buddy System’s Little Bug and Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, have both passed their funding goals, with the latter nearly doubling its target and raising $2 million with 21 days still to go.
More games industry dealings
Those weren’t the only deals in the games industry in January 2017, of course.
Below we've rounded up all the other deals we've covered on our deal tracker, which includes more transactions and numerous partnerships.
IGG and Boostinsider partner for massive influencer campaign to promote Lords Mobile through January
Abertay University partners with Perfect World to promote game dev education in China
Gameloft’s mobile ad network partners with AerServ for rewarded video ads
Azubu acquires rival eSports streaming service Hitbox and plans to launch mobile-focused platform
LINE adds rewarded video ads to messaging app through Fyber partnership
Nexon snaps up Japan publishing rights for Kunlun’s Elsword Mobile
Razer acquires cloud-focused smartphone manufacturer Nextbit
#2: Games industry deals in February
Not to be outdone by the big money moves of January, February opened explosively with New York publisher Take-Two's $250 million acquisition of Spanish casual developer Social Point.
The deal was made up of $175 million in cash and nearly 1.5 million unregistered shares of Take-Two common stock.
For Take-Two, which wholly owns leading console developers Rockstar Games and 2K Games, it's a move into the mobile space and a statement of its ambitions for the platform.
This was by far the biggest M&A activity of the month, but Take-Two wasn't the only company in the console space increasing its mobile footprint.
Building a mobile business
Indeed, mere days later on February 9th, TT Games completed its acquisition of UK-based mobile developer Playdemic for an undisclosed sum.
TT Games is owned by Warner Bros, and is best known for its LEGO games on consoles. Playdemic, meanwhile, is only 33 people strong but has recently garnered attention with the release of Golf Clash.
Elsewhere, Activision Blizzard licensed the toys-to-life Skylanders IP to Summoners War developer Com2uS for a new mobile title - targeting 2018.
But it wasn't just the big console titles getting in on the mobile action, with US publisher Autumn Games signing a deal for LINE to distribute its mobile F2P adaptation of Skullgirls worldwide.
Breakup of Champions
Another major acquisition in February was Netmarble's acquisition of Kabam Vancouver and Marvel: Contest of Champions, which was finally completed on February 24th.
The deal also sees Kabam's Customer Support Team at its Austin office, as well as parts of the Business Development, Marketing Art and User Acquisition teams from Kabam San Francisco, brought under the Netmarble umbrella.
Kabam Games will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary, while the remaining assets - including its LA and San Francisco studios - have been spun-off into a new company called Aftershock.
Aftershock itself has now "opened itself for acquisition."
Second chance for Warlords
One of February's most intriguing deals was InnoGames' acquisition of the Warlords IP from fellow Germans Wooga for an undisclosed sum.
Wooga closed Black Anvil Games, the midcore spin-off studio that developed Warlords, in October 2016.
The bulk of its staff are now at Snowprint Studios' new Berlin office.
But Warlords is much closer in style to InnoGames' strategy portfolio, and the studio obviously sees potential in the IP.
Raising big money
Investment also came thick and fast in February, starting with Star Trek Timelines developer Disruptor Beam who raised $8.5 million in a Series B investment round.
Soon after, Playlab invested $1 million in Brazilian studio Cupcake Entertainment to help fulfil its goal of becoming "the number one casual brain puzzle company in the world and the biggest games company in Brazil.”
Other big money investments saw Chinese developer ShineZone raise $58 million, which will be spent on overseas expansion and growth of its incubator programme and global distribution network.
After raising $3 million in seed funding back in April 2016, Helsinki studio Armada Interactive took its funding total to $10 million on February 23rd.
Focused on core gaming and eSports with both Western and Asian appeal, CEO Samuli Syvähuoko commented that Korea Investment Partners - who led the funding round - "will be a key strategic partner."
Another Nordic developer to bag $10 million in investment was Swedish firm Gaming Corps, which will receive the money from Global Yield Fund in instalments over the next three years.
The money will be used to fund acquisitions.
More games industry dealings
Those weren’t the only deals in the games industry in February 2017, of course.
Below we've rounded up all the other deals we've covered on our deal tracker, which includes more transactions and numerous partnerships.
Taptica makes first move into Japan through Adinnovation partnership
SpellTower dev signs partnership with dictionary publisher
Glu partners with MLB to bring fully-licensed teams and players to Tap Sports Baseball
Plarium partners with Twentieth Century Fox to bring children's film Rio to match-3
Audio tech firm Krotos secures six-figure funding from former Rockstar North president
Keywords continues acquisition spree with $1.5 million purchase of animation studio Spov
Mobile marketing firm Mobvista agrees $100 million loan deal with Bank of China
Tenjin partners with Looker and Chartio to make marketing data more efficient
Mobile acquisition and management firm Maple Media raises $30 million