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Gaming Company acquisitions are a common occurrence in the industry. With so many developers popping up over the years, what are the biggest buyouts made in recent years?
If you are an avid Old School Runescape player, you might have heard how the Carlyle Group acquired the developer Jagex for at least $530 million. These sorts of mergers and acquisitions are common in the gaming industry, and 2022 has been marked with several notable buyouts of independent video game developers. Gamers and investors are now wondering what the most significant Acquisitions in recent years are.
Gaming Acquisitions in 2022
Larger companies acquiring smaller independent video game developers are common in the gaming industry, and it is usually a desirable outcome for many small-time studios. One of the possible goals of independent companies is to merge with a more significant and prestigious one to get more funding for their projects. In return, the acquirer intends to gain profit from the successful products of the ones they acquired. One prime example of this is Tencent after acquiring Grinding Gear Games who published Path of Exile. The Chinese company has been profiting from PoE due to the number of gamers actively farming Path of Exile currency.
It is a general idea that most mature industries would eventually merge through shared interests and goals. For the gaming industry, some of the biggest buyouts occurred in recent years as much larger studios acquired prestige or rising companies. The total estimate for the real deals in that year would amount to around $150 Billion. Here are the top five acquisitions of former Independent Gaming developers in recent years:
5. Acquiree: Bungie – Acquirer: Sony
The well-known company responsible for the development of the Destiny Franchise was acquired by Sony in 2022. The deal was said to have amounted to $3.6 Billion, which is one of the largest buyouts in the past four years—the agreement aimed to improve Bungie’s live service and operation model to provide further success.
Bungie is a well-known studio composed of former developers who worked on Halo and went on to create their popular MMO-FPS franchise, Destiny. The gaming studio has been around since 1991 and has been formerly a part of Microsoft during the development of many Halo games. Eventually, the group split off from the gaming juggernaut after the release of Halo: Reach back in 2007.
The game released several small titles between 2007 and 2014 until they launched their hit franchise, Destiny. They then released Destiny 2 in 2017, which eventually became free-to-play in October 2019. The company has consistently updated the game and has continuously pumped out new paid expansions.
4. Acquiree: Scopely – Acquirer: Savvy Games Group
One of the rising stars in mobile game development has recently been acquired by Savvy Games Group in what is considered one of the biggest buyouts this year. Scopelay is known to have developed several hit titles, such as Marvel Strike Force and Star Trek Fleet Command. The Saudi Arabian firm bought the California-based company for $4.9 billion in an attempt to expand further the reach of their firm and as well as to promote a positive public image for the country.
Scopely is well-known for Marvel Strike Force, one of the most popular mobile turn-based RPGs for Android and iOS. The studio is also responsible for Stumble Guys, a clone of the highly popular Fall Guys. The acquisition is a window of opportunity for Scopely to improve its live service and game development capabilities.
3. Acquiree: ZeniMax Media – Acquirer: Microsoft
ZeniMax Media might not ring a bell for most people, but gamers might be familiar with one of its member groups, Bethesda Softworks. Microsoft acquired The video game firm in 2020 after a careful process, which was eventually approved by the United States SEC and the European Commission. The total acquisition amounted to $7.5 billion.
ZeniMax is a firm that hosts multiple other gaming companies under its wing. The most notable is Bethesda Softworks, the leading developer of the iconic Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises. The acquisition of ZeniMax Media by Microsoft means that gamers can eventually play the ES and FO games on the Xbox Game Pass across multiple platforms. The acquirer will now also gain profit from Bethesda’s other successful titles that are on mobile, Elder Scroll Blades and Fallout Shelter.
2. Acquiree: Zynga – Acquirer: Take-Two Interactive
Zynga is a familiar name that most gamers would have heard of once or twice. The California-based company is home to various titles and is considered one of the leading mobile game developers in the industry. After years of being an independent but large company, Take-Two acquired Zynga in 2022. The total cost of the acquisition amounted to around $12.7 billion, which is currently one of the largest in the past three years.
Zynga is known for its various mobile games, but it started its exponential growth as a household name during its gaming days on Facebook. Different titles, such as FarmVille and Poker, were so widely played on social media sites that most people were already familiar with the company’s name and logo. Zynga was able to grow its portfolio, and it eventually was able to expand its reach and products to Android and iOS devices.
Zynga is no stranger to acquisitions, as the company also bought multiple smaller studios over the years. These buyouts include NaturalMotion, Starlark, Small Giant Games, Chartboost, and Gram Games. The publisher of Grand Theft Auto obtained Zynga in the hopes that it would help them expand and market their mobile market.
1. Acquiree: Activision Blizzard – Acquirer: Microsoft (Not Yet Completed)
While this deal has not been completed yet, the merger between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft is considered a done deal. The total transaction is estimated to be equal to $68.7 billion. If the acquisition pushes through, it will become one of the largest gaming buyouts in the industry, if not the biggest. Once the deal is done, gamers will possibly see most Activision-Blizzard games appear on the Xbox Game Pass.
Activision-Blizzard is home to some of the most popular titles in the gaming industry. These include World of Warcraft, Call of Duty Franchise, Crash Bandicoot series, Spyro games, and Overwatch. The company is seen as a juggernaut with an expansive reach on multiple platforms. After its acquisition of King back in 2016, Activision-Blizzard also gained a firm grasp on mobile games.
Microsoft has made multiple acquisitions over the past decade, which includes Mojang Studios and ZeniMax. The acquisition process of Activision-Blizzard came as soon as the company was able to settle and stabilize its situation after the previous buyout. This acquisition aims to enable Microsoft to finally pierce through the mobile gaming market with the acquiree’s help, which the company still needs to do in the past years. Activision-Blizzard has Diablo Immortal and Candy Crush (published by King) under its wings to provide the opportunity its buyer needs.
While the deal will push through, many reviews will remain before completing the transaction. As of the moment, only Saudi Arabia and Brazil have approved of the buyout. UK is still calling for a review after Sony CEO Jim Ryan claims that the acquisition will result in Microsoft having a monopoly over Activision-Blizzard games. In addition, FTC has also called to block the deal because of its potential adverse effects on other gaming competitors.
Future Gaming Acquisitions
Currently, the Activision-Blizzard & Microsoft deal is the only pending high-profile acquisition known to the public. Any future buyouts will likely happen because it is almost a certainty for most small-time companies. Several other purchases occurred in the past few years, including Mojang-Microsoft and Carlyl-Jagex. These giants will likely try to acquire more companies in the coming years, so gamers should wait for further announcements.
