Games M&A soars in Q1 2025 with $4.4bn in deals

Games M&A activity surged in Q1 2025 with 48 deals totalling $4.4 billion - the highest quarterly value in nearly two years. 

That's according to Drake Star's Q1 2025 Global Gaming report which showed that Scopely's $3.5bn acquisition of Niantic’s games division was the largest deal of Q1 2025.

Other key mobile M&A moves in Q1 2025 included Tripledot’s reported $900 million purchase of AppLovin’s games division, Miniclip acquiring Lessmore, and Krafton buying Nautilus Mobile. 

The quarter also saw 149 private placements worth $3.5bn, led by Infinite Reality’s reported $3bn investment at a valuation of over $12bn.

Notable fundraising 

Financing in Q1 2025 included rounds for Turkish developers Grand Games ($30m) and Good Job Games ($23m).  

Moreover, Niantic Spatial secured $50m as part of the Scopely deal, Bigabig raised $25m from MobilityWare, and AI game developer BeyondOS closed a $20m round. 

However, Drake Star's report found that later-stage funding for gaming studios remains challenging.

Most active investors

Over the past year, top investors included Bitkraft, Play Ventures, and Andreessen for larger funds, while Tirta, The Games Fund, and GEM Capital were most active at the seed stage. 

Krafton, Tencent, and Samsung led strategic investments, with Animoca, Spartan, and Big Brain driving blockchain gaming activity. Leading acquirers included Savvy/Scopely, Tencent, Playtika, Tripledot, Infinite Reality, and MTG.

Game publisher Asmodee had a successful IPO after its spin-off from Embracer, and Ubisoft secured $1.25bn from Tencent amid sale rumours. Elsewhere, AMD, GameStop, and Logitech announced significant debt deals.