— Roblox, the US-based game creation and multiplayer platform, has acquired Speechly, an AI voice moderation startup from Finland, for an undisclosed amount;
— Proof of Play, a US-based blockchain-powered games developer, has successfully raised $33m in a Seed funding round;
— Eloelo, a social gaming and live-streaming platform based in India, has secured $22m in its pre-Series B funding round. The funding was led by Courtside Ventures and Griffin Gaming Partners.

Those 3 deals, along with 8 others, were covered in our most recent Weekly News Digest.

Our colleagues from GameDev Reports picked for us the most interesting gaming reports of the previous week. This time, they covered Payday 3 Launch Issues on Steam, and Candy Crush Saga's $20B Revenue Milestone, and Baldur's Gate 3 User Engagement in Aug'23:
— The launch of Payday 3 on Steam encountered problems;
— King: Candy Crush Saga's revenue has surpassed the $20B mark;
— Newzoo: The US, Russia, and the UK are top countries for Baldur's Gate 3 by MAU in Aug'23.

A weekly recap with a brief overview of the mentioned reports is available here.

— Supercell, a gaming company based in Finland and a subsidiary of the China-based gaming and tech giant Tencent, has acquired a majority stake in Ultimate Studio, an Australia-based racing games developer;

— Xsolla, a gaming payment solutions provider based in the US, has acquired AcceleratXR, an in-game server backend provider;

— Omada, a mobile games developer based in France, has secured $7.5m in a Seed funding round led by Felix Capital.

These three deals, along with five others, were featured in our most recent Weekly News Digest.

Our colleagues from GameDev Reports picked for us the most interesting gaming reports of the previous week. This time, they covered games earning on Steam in 2023, the state of Mobile Gaming Market in Q3'23, and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty development costs:

— Gamalytic: 67% of games on Steam earned less than $5k;
— data.ai: State of the mobile market in Q3'23;
— CD Projekt RED: Development of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty cost $63m.

A weekly recap with a brief overview of the mentioned reports is available here.

— Snowprint Studios, a mobile games developer based in Sweden, has been acquired by Modern Times Group, a mobile-first gaming company, although the exact amount of the deal is undisclosed;
 — Studio Sai, a US-based games developer, has successfully raised $7m in a Seed funding round led by KRAFTON Inc.; 
— Sad Cat Studios, a Poland-based developer focused on PC and console games, has raised $5m from GEM Capital.

Those 3 deals, along with 2 others, were covered in our most recent Weekly News Digest.

Our colleagues from GameDev Reports picked for us the most interesting gaming reports from the previous week. This time, they covered layoffs in the gaming industry in 2023, the successful launch of EA Sports FC 24, and the top mobile games by revenue and downloads in Sep'23:

— Layoffs affected more than 6,000 employees in 2023;
— EA Sports FC 24 launched 20% better than FIFA 23;
— AppMagic & WNHub: Top Games by Revenue & Downloads in Sep'23.

A weekly recap with a brief overview of the mentioned reports is available here.

— Fragbite Group, a Sweden-based esports company, is set to acquire Fall Damage, Sweden-based games developer, for up to $38.4m;
— Xsolla, a US-based video game commerce company, has acquired US-based streaming tech companies Lightstream, Rainmaker, and API.stream from UK-based broadcast and media company Videndum for undisclosed sum;
— Fast Travel Games, a Sweden-based VR game developer, has raised $4m in its new funding round led by Handelsbanken Fonder to expand the company’s business operations, focusing on publishing and developing unique IPs for VR platforms.

Those 3 deals, along with 5 others, were covered in our most recent Weekly News Digest.

Our colleagues from GameDev Reports picked the most exciting gaming reports from the previous week. This time, they covered the profitability of Sony's gaming business, children's spending in games in Europe, and gaming trends across different age groups:

— The profitability of Sony's gaming business does not reach 15%;
— Ipsos & Video Games Europe: How children spend money in Games;
— Newzoo: How different generations interact with games in 2023.

A weekly recap with a brief overview of the mentioned reports is available here.

— Canadian Esports firm GameSquare Holdings is acquiring US-based FaZe Clan for $18.5м in an all-stock deal, a 17% premium over its recent valuation of $15.8 m;
— Cyprus-based mobile games publisher Azur Games is buying the portfolio of US hypercasual game publisher Tastypill;
— UK-based games developer Noodle Cat Games raised $12м in a Series A funding round led by Hiro Capital.

Those 3 deals with 5 others, were covered in our most recent Weekly News Digest.

Our colleagues from GameDev Reports picked the most exciting gaming reports from the previous week. This time, they covered Marvel's Spider-Man 2 launch sales figures, the possible growth of the top-6 gaming markets in Southeast Asia, and a percentage of Netflix subscribers who play its games:

— Marvel's Spider-Man 2 sold 2.5 million copies on the first day;
— Niko Partners: The six largest gaming markets in Southeast Asia will reach $5.8B in 2023;
— Apptopia: Less than 1% of Netflix's MAU plays its games.

A weekly recap with a brief overview of the mentioned reports is available here.

Microsoft has successfully navigated challenges and completed the historic $68.7B cash acquisition of Activision Blizzard on October 13th. This game-changing deal signifies a pivotal moment in gaming history. In collaboration with our partners from Taylor Wessing and especially with Senior Counsel Richard Faichney, we have thoroughly reviewed this deal once again. Feel free to check it out here.

Our colleagues from GameDev Reports picked the most exciting gaming reports from the previous week. This time, they covered the current state of the Sweden gaming industry, toxicity in multiplayer games in 2023, and Marvel Snap's earnings for the first year since the release:

— dataspelsbranschen: Sweden gaming Industry in 2023;
— Unity: Toxicity in Multiplayer Games Report 2023;
— AppMagic: Marvel Snap earned more than $116M on mobile devices in the first year.

A weekly recap with a brief overview of the mentioned reports is available here.

Our colleagues from GameDev Reports picked the most exciting gaming reports from the previous week. This time, they covered the potential growth of gaming subscriptions, the current state of the French gaming industry, and North American players' behavior in mobile games:

— Omdia: Gaming subscriptions will grow to $22 billion by 2027;
— SNJV: The State of the French Gaming Industry in 2023;
— Mistplay: North American players’ behaviour in Mobile Games in 2023.

A weekly recap with a brief overview of the mentioned reports is available here.

InvestGame team is pleased to present our Global Gaming Deals Activity Report for Q1-Q3’23. This report analyzed a significant shift in the gaming industry's investment landscape, characterized by reduced dealmaking activity and a challenging environment for early- and late-stage investments.

You can get a free copy of you report on our website.

1. Decrease in Dealmaking Activity: The year-to-date (YTD) 2023 has seen a significant downturn in dealmaking activity in the gaming industry, falling from the record heights experienced during 2021-22. The capital raised by gaming companies in YTD 2023 was four times lower than the average of 2021-22 during the same period, with the number of deals shrinking by approximately 23%.

2. Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As): Beginning in 2023, there was a noticeable decrease in M&A activity, with a total exit value approaching $8.5B, 3.8x below the average amount of the previous two years. Notable acquisitions include Scopely by Savvy Games Group for $4.9B and a public takeover of Rovio by SEGA for approximately $0.8B.

3. Public Offerings: Public offerings in the gaming industry have remained quiet, with the IPO window essentially closed. The sector has seen a roughly 29% year-over-year decline in Q1–Q3 2023, making it on track to be the worst year amid increasingly harsh conditions. This includes higher interest rates and mixed performance of recent US-listed IPOs.

4. Early-stage Gaming Investment: Early-stage investment activity in gaming still needs to catch up to the 2021-22 levels in value and volume. However, it shows a positive dynamic compared to the pre-COVID period. Pre-seed and Seed rounds have remained steadfast, while Series A deals have decreased.

5. Late-stage Gaming Investment: The late-stage gaming investment sector reached its lowest point in 2023, with roughly $300m capital raised across eight transactions. The prolonged macro volatility and liquidity crunch are expected to decrease the chances of consequent fundraising for newcomers, potentially leading to down rounds, premature M&As, or bankruptcies.

6. We see a significant increase in AI-related deals in 2023, particularly in Q3, with 21 deals totaling $268.1m. AI's impact is rising in gaming, primarily in production, though less rapidly than the previous blockchain gaming boom; the industry closely monitors AI's evolving role, indicating a potential emerging trend in gaming's future.

We would like to thank MGVC and Taylor Wessing for their support and a special thank you to the White Label PR agency for connecting us with top-tier media outlets.

Our colleagues from GameDev Reports picked the most exciting gaming reports from the previous week. This time, they covered the Indian gaming market forecast till 2027, the current gaming industry overview, and the US video game market performance in Oct'23:

— Lumikai & Google: The Indian Gaming Market in 2023 and Forecast until 2027;
— Newzoo: The Gaming Industry in 2023;
— Circana: The American gaming market in Oct'23 fell by 5%.

A weekly recap with a brief overview of the mentioned reports is available here.

Last week, we presented our Global Gaming Deals Activity Report for Q1-Q3’23. Here are some of the most significant findings.

The year-to-date (YTD) 2023 has seen a significant downturn in dealmaking activity in the gaming industry, falling from the record heights experienced during 2021-22.

The capital raised by gaming companies in YTD 2023 was four times lower than the average of 2021-22 during the same period, with the number of deals shrinking by approximately 23%.

Last week, we presented our Global Gaming Deals Activity Report for Q1-Q3’23. Here are some of the most significant findings.

Dealmaking activity has fallen from record heights during 2021–22 as the market slows, and the investment landscape has witnessed a notable downturn since 2023.

YTD 2023 capital raised by gaming companies was 4x times lower than the average of 2021–22 during the same period ($2.3B vs. ~$9.1B), with the number of deals shrinking by ~23%.

Last week, we presented our Global Gaming Deals Activity Report for Q1-Q3’23. Here are some of the most significant findings.

Beginning in 2023, the M&A activity witnessed a notable decrease, with total exit value approaching $8.5B, 3.8x times below avg. amount of the previous two years. The main contributors, accounting for over 75% of the overall value, were the acquisitions of Scopely by Savvy Games Group ($4.9B), a public takeover of Rovio by SEGA (~$0.8B), and the acquisition of Techland by Tencent (undisclosed).

Last week, we presented our Global Gaming Deals Activity Report for Q1-Q3’23. Here are some of the most significant findings.

The trend of diminishing performance in the public offerings market continues, presenting restricted opportunities for acquiring additional funds. In Q3'23, a mere nine deals were executed. The prevalent variance in financial outcomes and predictions has contributed to challenges in stabilizing public share prices.

Last week, we presented our Global Gaming Deals Activity Report for Q1-Q3’23. Here are some of the most significant findings.

This year shows an increased interest in AI-related startups in terms of size and number of deals. Q3’23 was especially strong, with an unprecedented 21 deals for a total amount of $268.1m. The year’s largest deal was a $76m round of Inworld AI led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.