Deal Tracker: Big money deals in China, HTML5, chat apps and fashion games in November 2016
The games industry was once again alive with big deals in November 2016 as companies across the world signed partnerships, acquired studios and made big investments.
We've been 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.
Big business
Each month we'll be rounding up these deals and seeing if there are any emerging trends occuring month-on-month.
First off is November 2016, which saw some big deals in China and Asia, HTML5 and chat apps gathering investment, and Glu Mobile making a significant acquisition.
Click on the link below to take a look at the latest games industry deals and trends.
#1: Big money in big China
The biggest deal of the month by far is 37 Interactive's acquisition of Chinese games companies Zhiming Network and Mokun Technology.
The latter is one of China’s most recently successful developers, finding big success with action title Quanmingwushuang, which held the top spot on China’s top grossing charts for several months.
It was enough to convince 37 Interactive to fork out $161.08 million for a controlling 68.43% stake in the company.
Splashing the cash
Not stopping there though – 37Games also snapped up a 49% stake in browser and mobile games firm Zhiming Network for a mere $37.02 million.
The two deals show that the games industry in Asia, particularly in China right now, continues to be flush with cash.
Other big deals in the region included Nexon’s acquisition of a 49% in Thai games publisher I Digital Connect Co for an undisclosed fee and Unity’s new deal with mobile firm Xiaomi, which will make it easier for developers to publish their games in China.
South Korea publishe Netmarble meanwhile has signed a deal with Lucasfilm to develop mobile MOBA Star Wars: Force Arena.
#2: Investment surges in HTML5 and chat apps
Other investments that reflect a potential new industry trends concern HTML5 and mobile chat apps.
Ontario-based Big Viking Games raised some $21.75 million in funding at the start of November. The developer isn’t just stopping there however, and has ambitions to raise a further $60 million.
High-5
It’s all part of its plan to partner with developers, publishers, agencies and brands to develop HTML5 games for mobile. It also wants to acquire other companies and bring its HTML5-based instant gaming engine to broader audience.
To this end, it’s also opened a $10 million publishing fund for HTML5 messenger platforms.
It was just in time for the announcement and launch of Facebook’s new HTML5-powered Instant Games platform, which allows users to play games in Facebook Messenger or in their News Feed on the social network.
Facebook’s Instant Games platform is yet to have the key ingredient of monetisation fitted into it, so for now developers aren’t making direct returns on their investment.
But over time, should Facebook decide to make a bigger push, Instant Games could become a significant games platform and source of revenue for publishers.
Messenger games have proven hugely popular in Asia, and while the Western market differs in many ways, it’s not difficult to see chat apps evolving and becoming a popular gaming destination.
And though it still has its major problems, Facebook’s adoption of HTML5, as well as other chat apps like Kik, shows HTML5 may finally be coming of age.
The potential for games in messenger apps are why companies like Game Insight are investing $5 million into opening up a new division within the company focused on developing HTML5 titles for Instant Games, and why former Zynga UK GM Matthew Wiggins has gathered investment for new iMessage and chat app specialist MojiWorks.
#3: Glu Mobile bets big on fashion games
One of the biggest deals that came to light in November was Glu Mobile’s $45.5 million acquisition of California-based developer Crowdstar, best known for its fashion game Covet: Fashion.
It’s easy to see why Glu would be interested in the studio – on paper it fits in perfectly with its portfolio of titles that includes Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Britney Spears: American Dream and Kendall & Kylie.
Coveting fashion games
Covet: Fashion has also surpassed 30 million downloads downloads and has previously broken into the top 100 grossing charts on the App Store. The studio is also currently busy developing a new title, Design Home, whic has been soft-launched in Canada.
Though the firm has struggled to replicate the success of its hit celebrity game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and in fact closed Katy Perry Pop in November, it’s a clear sign that Glu isn’t keen to veer away from the audience these games attract despite the company's falling revenues.
In fact, the publisher was so bullish on the genre as to say it hopes to become the leader in the fashion game category following the deal.
#4: More games industry dealings
Those weren't the only deals in the mobile, VR and AR games industries last month, of course.
Below we've rounded up all the other deals we've covered on our deal tracker, which includes more multi-million dollar transactions and numerous partnerships.
IronSource partners with India's Omnicom Media Group Programmatic
Ex-Zynga devs raise $4 million for new Indian studio PlaySimple Games
Perforce acquires application lifecycle management tool provider Seapine Software
Keywords snaps up Enzyme Testings Labs for $3.65 million
VR developer nDreams raises £2 million in investment
Ex-InnoGames staff get funding for new mobile studio Sviper
Starbreeze invests $300,000 into Croatian developer Lion Game Lion
Mobile Strike dev MZ partners with Square Enix for Final Fantasy XV mobile MMO