Weekly News Digest #30

H1’21 Gaming Deals Activity Report is Out

It comes as no surprise that the gaming industry has been on a huge roll for the last several years: there are almost 3 billion gamers around the world and the global gaming market is supposed to grow to more than $200 billion in 2024. And on the deeper B2B-side of things, there are some even more amazing numbers this year. InvestGame team is happy to share with you our Global Gaming Deals Activity Report H1’21.

This year rallies up to be one of the biggest and brightest ones for the industry. Here are just a few of the markers:

— H1’21 represents a vast 4x growth vs. H1’20 on all fronts, including private investments ($4.6B vs. $1.4B), public offerings ($17.1B vs. $4.9B), and M&As ($22.4B vs. $4.0B)

— There were 471 transactions closed in H1’21 with the total deal value of $44.2B and 18 announced transactions still in process. Cumulative value for announced and closed deals was $50.2B in H1’21

— As usual, Gaming segment was the largest one, demonstrating overall blazing 4x times growth YoY with $32.7B (vs. $7.7B in H1’20) deal value across 267 deals, including $20.4B in M&As (+486% YoY), $2.8B in private transactions (+367% YoY), and $9.5B in public offerings (+157% YoY)

— VC gaming funds remain very active, with top-15 gaming VC funds injecting approximately $1.1B into 60+ companies in H1’21. BITKRAFT Ventures continues to lead the chart, followed by Makers Fund and Index Ventures

— Tencent continues to lead the strategic rating with a major focus on PC&console, closing a total of 53 deals, including acquisitions of Yager and Outsiders, and investments in Mundfish, DONTNOD Entertainment, and Bohemia Interactive

Download the report

A quick reminder: Joakim Achren of Elite Game Developers will be joined by Micha Katz from Aream&Co, and Anton Gorodetsky of InvestGame to review H1’2021 in gaming investments, IPOs, and M&As, based on the abovementioned Report. The webinar is going to take place on August 12th, please register here.

 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Hong Kong-based digital gaming company Animoca acquires Australian video game developer and publisher Blowfish Studios for up to $25.8m, including $6.6m upfront (paid $2.9m in cash, $3.7m in shares) and $19.2m potential earn-out, if certain performance and employment targets are met.

VENTURE FINANCING

Korea-based game developer Smilegate expands further into the Western region, investing $100m in That’s No Moon Entertainment, the company which employees include some of the industry’s veterans, previously working for Sony, Activision, and Naughty Dog.

US-based game developer and publisher 1047 Games has raised $10m in its recent funding round led by Human Capital. The funds will be used to expand the team and accelerate the development of the studio’s F2P multiplayer shooter Spiltgate.

The fast-growing Indian live social gaming platform Eloelo has secured a $2.1m investment to establish new creator partnerships and integrate new game formats. The pre-series A funding round was led by Waterbridge Ventures and Lumikai Fund.

Turkey-based mobile game studio UDO Games has received $420k in a funding round led by WePlay Ventures and Lima Ventures at a $4.2m valuation. The proceeds will be used to launch a new project and start self-publishing.

Canadian studio Horizon Blockchain Game raises $4.5m for its upcoming blockchain trading card game Skyweaver. The investment comes from BITKRAFT Ventures and CMT Digital, among others.

US-based mobile esports organization Tribe Gaming receives an investment from the parent company of San Antonio Spurs NBA team, Spurs Sports and Entertainment. The companies are planning for cross-content collaborations and more.

PUBLIC OFFERINGS

Krafton is now planning to bring $3.75B through its future IPO — the expected proceeds amount has dropped ~25% compared to the initial plans for a $5B sum. The change is most likely caused by the company’s re-evaluation of the indicative price range.