Industry Outlook
Games industry M&A hit a record $161bn in 2025
Electronic Arts’ $55bn buyout and Netflix’s $82.7bn acquisition of Warner Bros. dominated dealmaking during the year
Company Profile
Drake Star Partners
Website
www.drakestar.com/
About
Drake Star Partners is a global investment banking firm serving the technology, media and communications sectors.
Related People
Michael Metzger
Partner
Articles featuring Drake Star Partners
Market Report
Games industry investment and M&A ticks up in Q3
Drake Star Partners report shows first quarter for investment growth since Q1 2024
Deal Deluge
Games M&A hits $3bn disclosed deal value in Q2 2025
A new wave of M&A through late 2025 and into 2026 is expected as companies leverage improved valuations for growth
Podcast | Episode 51
Regulators poke the Apple and Google monopoly bear | Week in Mobile Games podcast
The PocketGamer.biz podcast team give you the state of play every week. Here's where to get it and what's inside this week's episode 51...
Industry Outlook
Games M&A soars in Q1 2025 with $4.4bn in deals
Led by Scopely’s $3.5bn acquisition of Niantic's games division
Delivering Deals
Report: Games industry M&As valued at $10.5 billion in 2024 with 21% volume increase
Drake Star’s Global Gaming Report 2024 highlighted the biggest investors of the year from venture capitalists to games studios
Gaming Trends
Games industry M&A activity hits $2.5 billion in Q3 2024
M&A activity in games has grown for the fourth consecutive quarter
Investment Bounceback
M&A is on the rise for the third quarter in a row
That's according to Drake Star whose latest Global Gaming Report for Q2 only carries good news on the games industry's rebound
Merging And Moving
Q1 2024 saw $2.4 billion in games industry investments, while M&As are up for the first time since 2022
Disney’s investment in Epic Games is responsible for $1.5 billion of that $2.4 billion total
Financials
Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal drives record $86 billion in games industry deals in 2023
“We predict M&A activity to steadily increase again in 2024”
Market Moves
Merger and acquisition deal value exceeds $11 billion for 2023
Some of the biggest names in gaming restarted their acquisition strategies in Q3
Breakdown
Drake Star's Global Gaming Report: Breaking down the numbers, charts and more
What do Drake Star’s charts and graphs tell us about the gaming industry today?
Investment
Drake Star's Gaming Index rises by 15% private financing worth $700m in Q2 2023
The firm points to major deals like the Activision Blizzard and Scopely acquisitions while noting a lower level of investment
Report
M&A is coming back swinging in 2023, Drake Star report concludes
New report offers key insights into changes in the VC climate for Q1
Drake Star Report
The top ten gaming industry deals of 2022
We break down the biggest acquisitions of 2022, as reported by Drake Star
2023 Predictions
Drake Star releases its predictions for 2023 in gaming
Look ahead to a year of consolidation and diversification
News
Drake Star's Global Gaming Report reveals the gaming industry’s top investors
The Embracer group lives up to its name with numerous acquisitions as we break down some of the top investors in Drake Star's new report.
News
Drake Star: Where the money’s going in the funding rounds
As we further break down Drake Star’s Global Gaming Report, we look at a comparison of the early and late rounds, as well as where the money is actually going.
Drake Star Report
Drake Star: Quarter 3 of 2022 saw 81 new mergers and acquisitions totalling billions of dollars
Over 300 deals were made from July to September, Embracer Group led the pack with eight acquisitions
Drake Star Report
2022 has seen 976 deals, with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard topping the charts
Drake Star analyses the gaming markets in its Global Gaming Industry Report
Deal Me In
Drake Star: 2022 games industry deals on track to exceed $150 billion
Drake Star partner Michael Metzger speaks with PocketGamer.biz on the highs and lows of games industry deals in H1 2022, and why IDFA is driving deals in the mobile sector
Report Reveals
Drake Star Partners: Q1 2022 games industry deals casts shadow over entirety of 2021
More deals in mobile than any other gaming segment
Almighty Acquisitions
Mobile games deals reached $15.5 billion in 2021, says Drake Star
Topped $85 billion in games deals across the board
Deal Or Deal?
Game M&A and funding volume hits $71 billion in 2021 to-date
Volume is already more than double 2020
Sky High
$60 billion worth of deals in the games industry have already taken place in 2021
Drake Star Partners adds up the activity
527 Individual Deals
Game deals in 2021 have reached $49 billion in value so far
Drake Star Partners digs into the data
Speaker Spotlight
Drake Star Partners' Michael Metzger on strong consolidation and more interesting IPOs
Pocket Gamer Connects Digital #6 kicks off on April 19th
Speaker Spotlight
Speaker Spotlight: Drake Star Partners' Michael Metzger
Pocket Gamer Connects London 2019 will take place on January 21st to 22nd