Savvy Games Group plots PC and console M&A

Savvy Games Group is plotting M&A activity in the PC and console space after expanding its mobile presence with the acquisitions of Scopely and Niantic’s games business.

Speaking to PocketGamer.biz at GDC, the company’s CEO Brian Ward said PC and console has always been part of its plans, but it has yet to land on anything “super compelling and that would be a good fit for us”.

“We're still sort of working that out,” said Ward, adding that it has been focused on supporting Scopely in growing its business as a priority.

“But we do need to turn our mind to PC and console. That could be through the lens of Scopely, but there could be something that's not in Scopely's wheelhouse also, but hopefully we'll figure that out shortly.”

Asked whether Savvy has any plans for the web gaming space, Ward said there hadn’t been many discussions around M&A related to the market.

“Nobody's even actually raised it internally to say this is something we should have a meeting about,” he stated.

M&A trail

To date, Savvy Games Group's M&A activity has largely focused on the mobile and esports markets. It acquired Scopely for $4.9 billion in 2023, with the Monopoly Go developer recently purchasing Niantic’s games business, including Pokémon GO, in a $3.5bn deal – backed by Savvy’s funds.

In the esports space, it has acquired ESL and FACEIT (forming the ESL FACEIT Group) and invested in Hero Esports.

In the PC and console space, Savvy has previously acquired a small stake in European publisher Embracer Group. It backed out a deal for further investment in May 2023, sparking a financial crisis at Embracer that led to mass layoffs, closures and eventually a split-off into separate public entities.

Savvy also owns stakes in Nintendo, Capcom and EA, amongst others, after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced it would transfer its gaming stocks to the company.