Investment
New studio Closing Theory raises $2.3m investment
The studio was co-founded by two previous members of the company Macro
Success In Funding
Singapore’s Eyeball Games raised $1.5 million for blockchain pool game
The fund highlights Singapore’s growing place in the mobile gaming industry
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?
Australian Investment
Screen Australia invests $3 million into gaming as part of the country’s digital entertainment goals
The fund sees 23 games with budgets below $500,000 receive fresh cash influxes
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
Investment
Scalo leads $3.5m investment in publisher Hexacore
The publisher specialises in mobile Web3 games
Studio Shifts
Neopets dumps the metaverse and crypto as TNT goes mobile
The newly independent studio will be focusing on building a new game called “World of Neopets” for mobile
Investment
More Turkish investment as Fortune Mine Games closes $2m seed round
The move reflects a wide and varied amount of investment in Türkiye
Week That Was
Week in Views - What caught our eyes in the last seven days
The PocketGamer.biz team tackles big money and two stories, about cancelled development and story innovation, from Develop: Brighton this time around...
Investment
Binance Labs commits $15 million to web3 games platform Xterio
The investment will see Xterio integrate AI and launch its token on the BNB chain ecosystem
Bring It On
Skill-based game developer Bring It On raises $4 million in seed funding
The company will invest the money in the creation of skill-based games
Scopely Acquisition
Savvy Games Group closes acquisition of Scopely
The acquisition highlights mobile’s place in Saudi Arabia’s games strategy
Konvoy Report
Venture Capital funding fell 38% in Q2 2023
Despite the decline, the gaming industry is on track to hit $201 billion this year
Studios
Plarium co-founder’s WhaleApp startup has raised $50 million and made $80m
Ilya Turpiashvili founded the company after selling Plarium to Aristocrat Leisure
Executive Moves
CEO of Nine66, Kadri Harma, to return to venture capital
Harma has been CEO since late 2021
Finding Funds
Mythical Games raises a further $37million, hitting a valuation of over $1billion
Investors include Animoca Brands, MoonPay and veterans from Activision Blizzard
Investment
Scriptic raises $5.7m in funding for AI-driven narrative mobile games
The round was led by perennial investor Bitkraft Ventures
Finding Funds
Pixion Games raises $5.5 million for Web3 RPG Fableborne
Investments come from Blizzard, Shima Capital and more
Series Surge
In-game Ads solution Anzu raises $48M in Series B funding
Funding round led by Emmis Corporation and supported by many new high-profile investors
Investment
SuperScale raises $5.4m in Series A funding round
The scaling firm raised €5 million as part of the funding
Documentation
Zynga, Playrix and Niantic were all potential entries on Microsoft’s shopping list
News comes as part of the revelation Microsoft considered buying Sega
Success In Funding
Animoca Brands subsidiary Anichess raises $1.5 million in seed round
The company is working on a decentralised chess game
Conference Round-up
Investment and AI: more highlights from GameExpo Summit
Our inaugural conference in the UAE revealed essential insights and perspective about the regional and global games industry (part II)
Investment
Flexion gains new shareholder in Alta Fox Capital
The Texan firm has invested an undisclosed amount in the publisher
Accelerating Diversity
Ten game makers named for the Wings Elevate 2023 accelerator program
The Netflix sponsored program features ten game makers all from gender diverse development teams
Investment Fund
Lumikai launches new $50m game fund backed by Supercell, Krafton and more
The fund focused on investing into early-stage game makers
Investment
Mobile fashion title Drest acquires £15m in new funding round
The mobile dress-up game has collaborated with numerous fashion brands
Investment
Turkish mobile startup Fuse Games receives $2m investment
The studio is making a big play of the use of artificial intelligence in the creation their games
Gaming Africa
Senegal sets up a new gaming hub
The country is aiming to become a focal point for West Africa’s gaming industry
Funding
Million Victories secures $6.5m in funding
The money came as part of a series A funding round
Funding
Turkish studio Spektra Games receives $1.25m investment
The funding round was co-led by Ludus Ventures and The Games Fund
Investgame Report
Gaming deals cooled down significantly in Q1 2023
Despite decreases across the board, there’s reasons to be optimistic about gaming investment in the year ahead.
Deals
“It’s been a rough night…” Embracer: What went wrong?
With their share price crashing 45% in the last 24 hours what exactly IS going on at Embracer?
Creating Connection
BebopBee raises $4 million in funding to inspire "real-world connection" through mobile game brands
Investment from Bitkraft Ventures, Courtside Ventures, Andover, Goal Ventures and more
Acquisition
Pixel United owners Aristocrat Leisure to acquire NeoGames
Pixel United are the company behind Product Madness, Plarium and Big Fish
New Investment
Saudi Arabia boosts stake in Electronic Arts by 55%
The country has been investing in game makers as part of its long-term economic strategy
Investment
Little Dot Studios invests in CLUB developer Formation Games
With a TikTok series forming part of the investment
Investment
The big Supercell investment roundup
Money to invest? Or looking for funding? Here's all the studios that Supercell has invested in, all in one place
Holding Out For A Hero
Sony brings its Hero Project incubator program to India
The launch follows the program’s rollout in China
New Investment
Outfit7 invests in educational startup Hopalai
Hopalai is the mind behind Kobi, an ereader app designed to make reading accessible for all children
Investment
Phantom Gamelabs joins Supercell’s family of investees
The studio has received an undisclosed amount from the Finnish gaming giant
Funding
Frantic Games raises $2.4m in pre-seed funding
The studio will use the fund to specialise in hybrid casual mobile games
Investment
Tencent takes the lead on European investment. Will the rest of China follow?
The company wants to hedge its bets abroad. Could more Chinese-funded M&A action be on the way?
Investment
Animoca Brands subsidiary Tinytap accrues $8.5m investment
The money comes from Sequioa China and Liberty City Ventures amongst other investors
Chess With A Change
SuperDuperSecretCo raises $1m to make a chess battle royale game
Dual economy will make Web3 elements optional
Venture Capital
The top VC firm for Q1, Bitkraft Ventures, expands to Asia
The firm was the top investor in Drake Star's recent report
Rebrand & Investment
Grand-Attic games, formerly Hadi, raises $5.3 million
The cash and rebrand came as part of a seed-2 round
Success In Funding
Reactional Music raises $2.05 million in pre-series A funding round
The platform aims to connect music and players for game developers
Konvoy Report
Gaming market to reach $201 billion in 2023
Asia dominated Q1 in terms of deal value, but came second to America in terms of volume
Football Funds
Soccer Manager creator Invincibles raises £1m for two new games
Investment is the latest in repeat funding from Mercia