Weekly News Digest #37

Hi all,

We’re working on an insightful research piece for you, set to be released in a few days, so there’s no featured analysis this week. However, you can still find a breakdown of the 16 deals from the previous week in the “Notable Transactions” section below!

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

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

India-based digital gaming and esports company Nazara Technologies (NSE: NAZARA) has acquired a 15.86% stake in India-based web3 esports platform Stan for $2.2m (Rs 18.4 crore) in an all-cash secondary transaction. The platform, which allows users to engage with gaming creators and celebrities through digital collectibles, is part of Nazara’s strategy to expand in the esports market. The platform has cumulatively raised $5.2m across two funding rounds, with the most recent round occurring in Jan’24. Nazara Technologies has also acquired a 47.7% stake in real-money games developer Moonshine Technology for $117m (Rs 982 crores), with $17.9m in compulsory convertible preference shares. Moonshine Technology is the parent company of Baazi Games, the developer of PokerBaazi, which has over 340k monthly active users (MAU).

52 Entertainment, a France-based mobile games developer, has acquired Spain-based mobile games developer Blackout Lab for an undisclosed sum. Blackout, the developer of mobile titles Rainbow, Bubble Shooter, Word Search Quest, and Spades, has 19.6 million monthly active users. Both companies will continue operating in the hypercasual mobile games market.

US-based gaming hardware company Corsair Gaming (NasdaqGS: CRSR) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Germany-based gaming hardware company Fanatec for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition, which focuses on Fanatec’s racing simulator hardware, is expected to close in the second half of Sep’24. Fanatec’s approximate unaudited revenue for 2023 was $110m.

VENTURE FINANCING

Turkey-based mobile games developer Cypher Games has secured $10m in a funding round led by The Raine Group, with participation from Play Ventures, 500 Global, and various individual investors. The funds will support team expansion and the development of the company’s debut game, a mobile match-3 title planned for release in H1’25. Cypher Games previously raised $3.2m in Jun’22.

US-based web3 games developer Nytro Labs has secured $8m in a funding round led by SevenX Ventures, with participation from OKX Ventures, Aptos Labs, Amber Group, HashKey Capital, Leland Ventures, and Matr1x. The funds will fuel the development of the company’s AAA title, Castille, which has recently entered its beta testing phase. This round brings the company’s total funding to $25m.

A Canada-based web3 gaming platform, Moku, has secured $5.35m in a funding round led by Sky Mavis and a16z Games Speedrun, with participation from Arca, Framework Ventures, 32-Bit Ventures, and various angel investors. The funds will support the development of the company’s publishing and game ecosystems, which focus on UGC games.

US-based mobile games developer Mother Games has secured $5m in a pre-Seed funding round from Shine, BoxGroup, and Lerer Hippeau Ventures. The funds will support the development of the company’s debut title, Le Zoo. The game will offer players the opportunity to discover and explore a fantasy theme park in a 3D world.

US-based gaming tech company Campfire has secured $3.95m in a Seed funding round from Y Combinator, FundersClub, and various individual investors. The funds will support the development of the company’s proprietary generative AI game engine, Sprites.AI, which offers developers a range of AI capabilities, including the creation of AI companions. As part of its technology development, Campfire has also developed its own title, Cozy Friends.

France-based PC & Console games developer Drama Studios has secured $2.5m in a Seed funding round from The Games Fund. The funds will be used for team expansion. The company is currently developing Unrecord, a body-cam FPS, whose trailer has reached 500 million views across social platforms.

Singapore-based gaming adtech company Crackle Technologies has secured $1.7m in a pre-Seed round led by We Founder Circle and ACVentures, with participation from various angel investors. The funds will support the company’s R&D and scaling efforts. Founded by Google veterans, the company’s adtech product focuses on optimizing publishers’ advertising revenue and improving user experience.

Cyprus-based gaming tech company Magify has raised $1.1m in a funding round from Steam Power Investments. The funds will be used for product development, focusing on the democratization of business analytics for small and medium-sized businesses. This round follows the company’s previous round from Narwhal Accelerator in Jun’24.

According to the SEC filing, US-based outsourcing gaming company Dardo Studios has raised $500k in a funding round from undisclosed investors.

US-based PC & Console games developer Saber Interactive has secured an undisclosed sum from Crestview Partners and Aleph Capital Partners as part of an equity investment. The funds will be used to repay debt owed to Embracer Group Interactive (STO: EMBRAC B). Saber Interactive bought out from Embracer Group in Feb’24. As part of the deal, the Managing Director at Aleph and the President and Head of Media at Crestview will join the company’s board of directors.

Finland-based multiplatform games developer Redly Games has secured an undisclosed sum in a pre-Seed funding round from Supercell. The company is currently developing a cross-platform adventure title, Project Oasis, on Unreal Engine 5, with an initial release planned for mobile platforms.

UK-based mobile games developer Empire Games has secured undisclosed corporate funding from Huuuge Games (WSE:HUGE). As part of the deal, Empire Games will operate as an external entity within the Huuuge Games ecosystem. The company, which developed two mobile casino games, was valued at $13.6m in 2022.

FUNDRAISING

A France-based gaming tech company Kinetix has launched a $1m AI-UGC fund aimed at supporting modders and developers of UGC (user-generated content) games by providing access to AI generative technologies. Each developer can receive up to $75k, along with consultations, marketing support, and access to Kinetix’s user-generated emote technology. The first studio to receive support is SmokeSpot Games, developers of the Dropcult title.