The Value of games acquisitions this year reached $19.24 billion last month, according to a report from Buy Shares.

Overall, the total value is for 37 deals. Moreover, the top 10 transactions accounted for $17.68 billion, or .

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft's acquisition of Fallout Creator Bethesda and its parent company ZeniMax Media ranked at No.1 with a staggering $7.5 billion.

Meanwhile, Zynga came at No.4 as it purchased Toon Blast developer Peak Games for $1.85 billion. Furthermore, the company acquired Turkish hypercasual specialist Rollic for $180 million.

Splashing cash

Other notable acquisitions include Jagex being sold to Macarthur Fortune Holdings for $530 million, and Playdots by Take-Two Interactive, which closed out the top 10 deals.

There was also the acquisition of Douyu by Huya, Saber Interactive by Embracer Group and more.

"Of importance is that no sector is entirely immune to the global decline in mergers and acquisitions due to the pandemic," reads the report.

"However, due to increased consumer demand in games, developers of varying size and maturity became increasingly attractive targets to acquirers and investors. Most investors were still on the lookout for the best opportunities to deploy their cash reserves."