Weekly News Digest #25

Tripledot Studios acquires ZephyrMobile

UK-based mobile casual game developer Tripledot Studios acquired Czech-based mobile casual and hypercasual games developer ZephyrMobile for an undisclosed sum.

In Feb’22, Tripledot raised $116m in a round led by 20VC and announced that part of the proceeds would be used for M&A expansion. Since then, the company hasn’t been very active and made only one acquisition: a US-based mobile entertainment platform Live Play Mobile for an undisclosed sum. Now the time has come for a deal that is very close to the company’s core casual gaming business.

Founded in 2016, ZephyrMobile is a developer of casual and hypercasual mobile games. It is best known for its sort of puzzle game Get Color, which has over 66 million lifetime downloads.

Recently, the company has released several other successful titles that contribute to its growth, including the hypercasual puzzle game Car Out! Traffic Parking Games, the sort puzzle Nuts – Color Sort Puzzle Games, and the casual puzzle Math Crossword.

Top Games by ZephyrMobile. Source: AppMagic.

The growth of the studio comes at a time when hypercasual games are moving towards IAP monetization. Tripledot, with over 300 million lifetime downloads, is also actively adopting new monetization strategies, increasing the role of IAP in its revenue model.

Downloads and IAP Revenue Dynamics of Tripledot. Source: AppMagic.

Tripledot aims to use its expertise to scale Zephyr’s gaming portfolio, creating a mutually beneficial scenario. After the acquisition, Zephyr gained a partner with extensive resources for user acquisition and scaling, while Tripledot enhanced its portfolio with Zephyr’s new and promising products.

In this context, the acquisition reflects a common strategy among many investors. As market entry becomes more challenging, larger companies increasingly seek to acquire established businesses with ready-to-scale teams and projects.

We thank MY.GAMES and Xsolla for supporting this digest.

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Canada-based esports organization GameSquare Holdings (NASDAQ: GAME) has sold a 25.5% stake in a subsidiary of US-based esports organization FaZe Media to the CEO of FaZe Clan, Richard Bengston, for $9.5m. The transaction follows the launch of FaZe Media, which occurred a month ago.

US-based streamer Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa has acquired an undisclosed stake in US-based esports team Wildcard for an undisclosed sum. The streamer has taken on a co-owner role in the organization and will promote new women’s apparel as part of the company’s recent rebranding.

US-based VR/AR tech company Evercoast has acquired US-based tech company DepthKit for an undisclosed sum. Evercoast will use DepthKit’s sensor developments to advance the capture and generation of 3D digital humans and spatial video.

VENTURE FINANCING

US-based web3 tech company Mirror World has raised $12m in a Series A funding round led by BITKRAFT, with participation from Galaxy Interactive, Big Brain Holding, and other investors. The funds will fuel the expansion of the web3 protocol Sonic, which provides game developers with elements such as customizable gaming primitives, a sandbox environment, and extensible data types.

German-based social platform developer Slay has raised $5m in a funding round led by Accel, with participation from Laton VC and other investors. The funds will support the development of the UGC social gaming platform, which is integrated with another company’s platform, Pengu, which has 2.5 million monthly active users.

Netherlands-based PC & Console game publisher Mystic Forge has raised ~$2.2m (€2m) in a funding round led by ForsVC and ROM Utrecht Region. The funds will support the company’s publishing portfolio and title acquisitions.

US-based PC & Console games developer MegaMod has raised $1.9m in a funding round led by Hand of Midas, Rubylight Fund, and other investors. The funds will support company development, including monetization model testing. The company’s post-money valuation is $27m.

UK-based mobile games developer Brainspark Games has raised approximately $1.8m (£1.4m) in a combined angel and grant round led by David Haynes from FOV Ventures, with participation from the Innovate UK grant program. The funds will support technology, production, and sales development. The company has already raised seven grants from Innovate UK.

US-based web3 gaming platform Farworld Labs has raised $1.75m in a funding round co-led by Lemniscap and Variant, with participation from Base Ecosystem Fund and Coinbase Ventures. The funds will support the launch of the Farcade platform, which allows users to develop web3 games that can be integrated into web3 social media.

US-based VR/AR tech company Gracia AI has raised $1.2m from The Venture Reality Fund, Triptyq Capital, LVL1 Group, and Future Fund. The funds will support the company’s interactive video platform launch with VR/AR elements. Gracia AI, now compatible with all major VR headsets, will soon be available on desktop, mobile devices, and Apple Vision Pro.

According to the SEC, US-based skill-based gaming platform Super Money Games has raised $500k in a debt offering round.

US-based VR/AR tech company Freeaim has raised $316.7k (£250k) in a pre-Seed funding round led by an angel investor. The funds will scale the production of VR Shoes, which allow users to walk inside virtual reality instead of using traditional joysticks. The company already has a developer version of the product, and the funds will also be used to develop a customer version oriented towards the mass market.

Cyprus-based gaming tech company Magify has raised an undisclosed sum in a funding round from Narwhal Accelerator. The funds will fuel the company’s operational processes, and the accelerator will provide administrative and operational advisory services.

US-based web3 gaming platform Elixir Games has raised an undisclosed sum in a strategic investment from Singapore-based web3 gaming platform WEMIX. The investment will fuel the growth of the launcher platform and support the development of new game IPs. This funding round follows a $14m funding round from Square Enix (TYO: 9684) and other investors in Mar ’24.