Better Together
IronSource picks up creative management platform Luna Labs
"Our vision at ironSource is to build the most comprehensive growth platform for app developers"
Welcome To The Family
Netmarble snaps up a majority stake in Kung Fu Factory
The WWE: Champions creator will become a Netmarble US subsidiary
Welcome To The Family
Lucid Sight snaps up multiplayer game engine Colyseus
It will launch a cloud-based version later this month
Welcome To The Family
EA completes its purchase of Codemasters
The pair hope to usher in "an exciting new era for racing games"
Such Discipline
Take-Two says it lost Codemasters to EA due to its "disciplined approach"
CEO and chair Zelnick admits that it was "disappointing" to not snap up the UK racing specialist
Pgc Digital
PGC Digital: What to consider with M&A
"You can think about the price on what you are acquiring by looking at its potential,"
Acquired
TinyBuild acquires three new studios
We're Five Games, Hungry Couch, and Moon Moose are the publisher's latest additions
Welcome To The Family
EA snaps up Design Home creator Glu Mobile
$2.1 billion will be exchanged for the developer
Master The Meta
Master the Meta: The real reason why AppLovin is acquiring Adjust
The MTM team takes a look at Applovin's motives in this billion-dollar deal
Welcome To The Family
Leaf Mobile snaps up East Side Games for $125 million
“We are tremendously excited to officially welcome East Side Games, a leading Canadian publisher and developer of mobile games, to the Leaf Mobile family"
Phoenix Rising
Phoenix Games acquires match-three mobile studio SmileyGamer
"It’s been great to have had the opportunity to grow SmileyGamer from the ground up"
Acquired
AppLovin set to acquire Adjust for $1 billion
Adjust has grown significantly in the last year
All In
Com2uS acquires majority stake in Kritika developer AllM
The deal includes mobile games subsidiary Funflow
No Brainer
Mobile developer Easybrain acquired by Embracer Group in $640m deal
$640m in stock and a potential extra $125m as a bonus
Acquired
Embracer Group picks up Aspyr Media for potential $450m
$100 million, plus up to $350 million in bonuses
Building The Anthill
Sumo Group snaps up indie outfit PixelAnt Games for £250k
The studio is Sumo's first mainland Europe acquisition
Here's The Facts
Jagex insists Plutos Sama's lawsuit claiming company ownership is "meritless"
Follows the RuneScape maker being bought by private equity giant The Carlyle Group
Welcome To The Family
Azerion fully acquires Habbo Hotel dev Sulake
"Azerion has been supporting us to grow and develop Habbo and Hotel Hideaway for over two years now so this acquisition feels like a natural continuation of our partnership"
Money Money Money
IMVU Inc. secures $35 million in funding
As it rebrands under its parent company Together Labs
Another Owner
RuneScape dev Jagex has been acquired by The Carlyle Group
Reported to be more than the $530 million valuation
Welcome To The Family
Tencent acquires majority stake in Don't Starve dev Klei Entertainment
"This partnership helps us navigate a changing industry, and helps us focus on what we do best: making unique experiences that no one else can"
Done Deal
Tencent secured 31 games-based deals in 2020
"Tencent is in no danger of losing its No.1 position in the games market, but it is beginning to feel some pressure"
Possible Deal
Codemasters execs approve EA's acquisition offer
Still needs the backing of other shareholders
Welcome To The Family
Opera snaps up YoYo Games for $10 million
“We are very excited to start working with the team at YoYo Games"
Welcome To The Family
Miniclip acquires Online Soccer Manager dev Gamebasics
"Partnering with Gamebasics was really a 'no-brainer' for us"
Possible Acquisition
Microsoft looking at more acquisition opportunities
"I've been hearing a lot of conversations behind closed doors about acquisitions in the industry. There's a lot of moving things going on right now"
Silver Anniversary
Cat Daddy Games founders discuss WWE partnership, Take-Two acquisition and 25 years in the industry
"We don’t put all the eggs into a single basket"
Money Money Money
$33.6 billion was spent on games industry investments last year
$12.6 billion came from M&As
Welcome To The Family
Digital Bros snaps up Gems of War dev Infinity Plus Two
"IP2 is a proven studio with phenomenal success over the years. Their creative vision and extensive experience will be a great addition to 505 Games"
Check Those Ads
IronSource snaps up ad quality measurement platform SOOMLA
"SOOMLA is the ideal fit to continue delivering on ironSource's commitment to create the best business infrastructure for developers"
Ask Iwata
Next Level Games was an anomaly - don't expect more Nintendo acquisitions anytime soon
Prior to this, its last purchase was Monolith Soft in 2007
It's A No From Me
Nintendo "laughed their asses off" when Microsoft inquired about acquisition
Xbox firm also tried to buy EA, Square and Midway
Welcome To The Family
Epic Games snaps up RAD Game Tools
"RAD and Epic combining forces will allow even more developers access to tools that make their games load and download faster"
Welcome To The Family
Niantic snaps up games community platform Mayhem
Terms of the deal were not disclosed
Ninten-yay
Nintendo snaps up Luigi's Mansion 3 dev Next Level Games
The deal is expected to close on March 1st
Splash The Cash
Nordisk Games acquires 40% of MercurySteam
This is the firm's first investment outside of the Nordic region
New Acquisition
Moon Active snaps up mobile games dev Melsoft
"We were searching for a company that has the right products and at the same time shares our culture and values that will allow us to grow together in synergy"
Independent
Digital Extremes will maintain creative independence after Tencent takeover
"We will continue to create great content for Warframe, and we will remain creatively independent"
Possible Deal
ByteDance is looking to acquire mobile games publisher CMGE
Its company stake would be worth $275 million
Welcome To The Family
Voodoo acquires Paris-based studio OHM Games
"We're thrilled to be able to build on our existing relationship with OHM Games"
Acquisition
Mag Interactive snaps up Swedish studio Apprope
"We are impressed by Apprope's combination of rapid development and high quality"
Acquisition
Keywords snaps up PR agency Indigo Pearl and audio firm Jinglebell
"We are delighted to have further grown the Keywords family by adding such talented teams in Milan and London"
Looming
Roblox acquires digital avatar creator Loom.ai
The aim of the acquisition is to speed up the development of next-generation avatars within Roblox
Master The Meta
Master the Meta: Reflecting on Tencent’s 2020
The MTM looks back on the publishing giant's 2020 activity
Big Money
Leyou shareholders agree to $1.3bn Tencent takeover
Firm going private on December 23rd
Competitive Offer
EA outbids Take-Two for Codemasters
Racing firm has accepted the bid, Grand Theft Auto giant "considering its position"
Acquisition
Rollic buys mobile puzzler Onnect from Chef Game Studio
"We are proud to be a part of the rapidly expanding games community in Turkey"
Podium Finish
Modern Times Group acquires mobile studio Hutch
"Hutch is a true front-runner, responsible for some of the most successful titles in the fast-growing mobile racing category"
Splash The Cash
Games acquisitions this year hit a value of $19.24 billion in November
The most expensive was the deal between Microsoft and ZeniMax
Looking Out
Imperia Online on the lookout for new games
Company CBDO Mariela Tzvetanova on the benefits of acquisition