Deal
Advance snaps up majority stake in games analytics firm Newzoo
The media company will make a significant capital investment in Newzoo as part of the deal
Funding Bytes
Chile dev TinyBytes Games picks up $1.4m investment
CEO Andres Constantinidis on why Initial Capital and London Venture Partners have made their first foray into Latin America games funding
Invested
Tencent invests $318 million in Chinese video-sharing company Bilibili
Publisher acquires 12.3 per cent of shares in a company that dabbles in running League of Legends and Overwatch esports teams
Funding Round
Blockchain outfit ClanPlay secures $2 million for its gamer rewards platform
Company aims to build “the world’s first marketplace for in-game actions"
More Tales To Tell
AMC and Smilegate backed out of Telltale financing talks day before closure
Source says management painted AMC deal as done
Road To Investments
Scopely swoops for Glu’s Rob Ricca to lead M&A activity
Rob Ricca previously led M&A at Glu Mobile, during which time it purchased Crowdstaf and Plain Vanilla
Jobs News
Tencent's director if investments and biz dev in the West departs
Jonathan Lai’s new employer Coatue Management and is looking for new investments in games
Job News Klaxon
Nordisk Film Games eyes further investments as it snaps up new director of partnerships
Sofie Filt Læntver will enter the fray on October 1st
Investment Round
Roblox picks up $150 million investment to fuel global expansion
New translations and support for currencies expected as company continues to grow
One Hundred Million Dollars
Streaming platform Caffeine nets $100m investment from 21st Century Fox
Two companies form new joint venture called Caffeine Studios
Vr
Nazara Technologies invests in Bangalore-based VR gaming studio Instasportz
Mobile developer is looking to get into offline VR games lounges across India
Raw Investment
Indie publisher Raw Fury gets $5.5m boost from Nordisk Film Games
The label is behind upcoming mobile and switch game Bad North
Investment
Animoca Brands receives $1.08m investment from Lympo and Sun Hung Kai
Publisher and developer to use the funding to open up opportunities in AI and blockchain
Invested
Metropolitan Partners Group invests in Tilting Point Media user acquisition fund
Marketing and publishing platform aims to deploy $132m annually to finance user acquisition
Field Trip
Indian learning platform Quizizz raises over $3 million in funding
Homework gamification app has amassed over 10 million active users
Take Three
Kakao Games makes a third $16.8 million investment in esports developer Neptune
The South Korean company now holds an 11 per cent stake in Neptune
Code Kids
Microsoft puts $500k behind tech training for students of colour
Publisher enters partnership with Black Girls Code to improve STEM education
Not So Improbable
NetEase invests $50m in UK tech company Improbable
Ties between Chinese publisher and SpatialOS developer deepen following partnership announced back in February
Who's There?
Ex-Zynga and TinyCo devs raise $2m for chat app games start-up Knock Knock
The chat gaming network will combine chat-native play experiences with unique intellectual properties
All Aboard
Chinese publisher NetEase picks up minority stake in UK studio Jumpship
Developer plans to double team of six over the next year
Messenger Gaming
HTML5 and chat app games specialist FRVR secures $3 million investment
CEO Brian Meidell labels chat app platforms "the next paradigm shift" in game distribution and content discovery
Competition
Win a chance to pitch your blockchain game to investors free, $15,000 prize pool
Roadshow Pitching Sessions comes to Blockchain Gamer Connects Helsinki
Augmented Vision
Machine learning-driven AR outfit Octi raises $7.5 million
Eyes up clients in gaming, fitness and fashion industries
Stanga Scores Investment
Underworld Football Manager dev Stanga Games picks up further $500k investment
Studio aims to hire new staff and increase marketing efforts
Branded
Mobile publisher Animoca Brands raises $4.5 million through over-subscribed share placement
The Hong Kong-based publisher also entered a partnership with HTC
Tilted
Tilting Point out to invest $132m in mobile games user acquisition annually
The mobile games publisher is out to solve fundamental challenges in the free-to-play mobile games marketplace
Excellent
Oasis Games heads up $3 million investment in Austrian indie developer Iron Mountain
Beijing publisher set to snag a minority stake in the company along with publishing rights to an unannounced title
Oh Mymy
After early struggles French dev Oh BiBi has its eyes on the big time with $21m investment
Studio set to launch multiplayer shooter FRAG
Playing The End Game
It’s raised another $100 million but where next for Scopely?
Looking for the perfect combination
M&a
Tencent-backed Chinese developer Seasun eyes Western partnerships
JX Online studio set to wrap up US investment
Winner Winner
Report: Tencent set to acquire 10% of PUBG developer Bluehole for $500 million
Sale is not intended to raise capital for Bluehole but instead is a chance for early investors to cash out
Be Careful What You Wish For
The madness and method of Supercell’s M&A philosophy
A double-edged sword
Funding News
Australian developer iCandy receives $1 million investment from esports.com
Blockchain and esports firm to take 19.5 per cent stake in studio
Cash Royale
Supercell invests $5 million in US mobile developer Redemption Games
Deal marks first M&A activity outside of Europe
Nice
Mail.Ru teams up with Unity to invest in games developers
Devs will also receive technological, marketing and analytical support
Investment
Ludia co-founder Marcoux’s VC White Star Capital raises $180m in second fund
The company will use the fund to help start-ups for international
Competitive Investment
Tencent invests in Chinese esports tournament operator VSPN
Company already runs Honour of Kings and Clash Royale competitions
Destined To Be Partners
Destiny developer Bungie could be set for mobile push following $100m investment from NetEase
US studio could be set to explore the mobile games market
Unreal
Interactive Gaming Ventures and Epic Games out to invest in indies using Unreal Engine 4
IGV plan to invest $1 to $5 Million in one to three indie teams per year
Debt Collection
Codemasters plots $20 million mobile games investment following IPO
But most of the money raised will go to paying off debt to current majority shareholder
Investment Magic
Casual mobile games publisher Voodoo raises $200 million
Publisher has more than 150 million monthly active users; plots further growth
Growth Investment
Why Playtika has created a warchest to invest up to $400 million in companies around the world
Playtika Growth Investments MD Eric Rapps discusses the social casino giant's new funding arm
Funded
Nokia phone manufacturer to “aggressively expand” in 2018 after raising $100 million
Round of investment was led by Ginko Ventures
Well Now
Epic puts up $100 million for Fortnite esports tournament prize pools
And that’s just for the first season
Funding News
Riot Games amongst investors in new mobile esports-focused studio Gamelynx
Studio raises $1.2 million
What's Next?
Monster Strike publisher Mixi plots $900m investment in biz dev and M&A over next five years
$100 million earmarked for Monster Strike and new IP development
New Studio
QuizUp creators secure $9m funding for new studio to develop real-time social gaming platform
Teatime Games set to expand team in Iceland
Star Deal
Nordisk Film invests $18 million in Star Stable Online dev
Game has more than 14 million registered users
Witness The Fitness
Animoca Brands nabs investment to create AI-based exercise app
Animoca Brands’ subsidiary OliveX to lead the development
Big Deal
Tencent eyes investment in Playerunknown's Battlegrounds outfit Bluehole
Local media reports investment could equal around $468 million