GungHo Online and SoftBank's $1.5 billion investment in Finnish developer Supercellhas pushed mergers and acquisitions money in the games industry past $5 billion for the first time.

That's according to investment bank Digi-Capital, which claims that, with more than two months of 2013 remaining, the record-breaking figure may be pushed yet higher in the coming weeks.

Money matters

"Games M&A to date this year has just topped $5 billion for the first time, with most of Q4 2013 left to run," detailed managing director Tim Merel.

"When we anticipated a record for games M&A in 2013 two weeks ago in our Q3 2013 Global Games Investment Review, we were not expecting that record within two weeks. Supercell pushed it up to $4.8 billion, but the recently reported Ourpalm acquisitions are what took games M&A to $5.2B so far this year."

Merel states that, as was the case in 2012, M&A in 2013 has been "dominated by mobile, and Chinese, Japanese and South Korean buyers."

Digi-Capital's declaration comes as Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen told PocketGamer.biz that the investment in his firm by the two Asian giants – which handed them a 51 percent share in Supercell – has made the Clash of Clans developer "more independent".

"If you look at the patience with which Masayoshi Son [SoftBank's CEO] runs his business and how he's invested, it's all about the longterm," he said.

"He's a traditional business man. It's not about heavy contracts. More like a handshake."