Video game industry scores record $71B in 844 deals so far this year

Dealmaking activity in the game industry reached $71 billion in total deal value across 844 transactions in the first 9 months of 2021, up more than 2x as compared to the full year 2020, per Drake Star Partners report. 

Mergers and acquisitions represented $32 billion across 228 deals in the first 9 months of 2021. M&A continues to be primarily driven by the PC & console sector, with 79 closed or announced transactions with a $13.6 billion deal value. Mobile game companies accounted for 26% of total number of M&A deals with 60 closed or announced transactions. 

Netmarkble, ByteDance, and Tencent became the key acquirers of Q3 2021 with a total disclosed value amount of $4.96B. 

Notable M&A Deals of Q3 2021

• In August 2021, Netmarble announced that it has acquired Hong Kong-based social casino game maker SpinX Games for $2.19 billion. 
• In September 2021, Playtika announced that it acquired home design app maker Reworks for $400 million. 
• MTG acquired word games developer PlaySimple for $360 million.
• Voodoo announced the acquisition of Israeli game studio Beach Bum.
• Zynga announced the acquisition of mobile ad and monetization platform Chartboost for $250 million.
• Stillfront announced the acquisition of Jordan-based mobile card games maker Jawaker for $205 million.  

2021 has also been a year of high-profile IPOs, direct listings and SPACs, with Roblox, AppLovin, Playtika, Huuuge, PlayStudios, Krafton, Unity, and more. In the third quarter of 2021, Krafton completed its IPO raising a record $3.7 billion, Nexters completed its SPAC,  and Doubledown went public on Nasdaq through an IPO.

Fundraising

The investment activity in the first 9 months of 2021 has increased significantly with $9.0B capital raised across 493 deals, according to the report.  

Notable Transactions of Q3 2021

• Fantasy football NFT platform Sorare raised $680M Series B
• NBA Top Shot-maker Dapper Labs raised $250M at $7.6B valuation
• Tilting Point raised $235 million
• Mobile Premier League raised $150 million at a $2.3 billion valuation