Weekly News Digest #38
# of announced deals
8
announced deals’ size
$2.1B
# of closed deals
7
Playtika Acquires SuperPlay for $2B
Israel-based mobile games developer Playtika (NASDAQ: PLTK) has entered into an agreement to acquire Israel-based mobile games developer SuperPlay for up to $2B. The deal is expected to close in Q4’24.
The $2B sum of the deal is comprised of:
— $700m of upfront consideration;
— a potential $1.25B earn-out over the next three years based on the company’s revenue and adj. EBITDA performance;
— $50m retention payment.
SuperPlay is a mobile games developer founded in 2019 by former Playtika employees Gilad Almog and Eyal Netzer, alongside ex-Rovio’s Elad Drory. The studio has a portfolio of two successful projects: a coin looter, Dice Dreams, and a boar game, Domino Dreams. According to the press release, both games collectively boast over 1.7 million average daily active users as of Aug’24.
Dice Dreams, the company’s main revenue driver, has made over $328m of IAP revenue since its release in Aug’19, according to AppMagic. Today, the game is making over $17m monthly and is the third-best-grossing game in its casual genre after Monopoly Go and Coin Master.
Source: AppMagic
Interestingly, fourth place in the casual casino genre is held by Animals & Coins — another game Playtika acquired along with its developer, Innplay Labs, just a year ago.
Domino Dreams, SuperPlay’s latest title, was launched in Nov’22 and has already generated over $29m in lifetime IAP revenue. Notably, $4.7m of that came in Aug’24 alone, highlighting the game’s active scaling phase.
The acquisition of SuperPlay isn’t just Playtika’s largest deal to date — it also ranks among the Top 10 mobile gaming M&As of all time.
Source: InvestGame data
The reasons behind the acquisition align with the strategy we highlighted in our analysis of Playtika’s previous deal. At a time when launching new titles is an incredibly challenging and risky endeavor, acquiring prosperous, growing companies is one of the best ways to expand the business. Once the deal closes, Playtika can leverage its vast resources and expertise to scale SuperPlay’s portfolio while significantly increasing its presence in the casual genre.
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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Hong Kong-based mobile games developer Boyaa Interactive has acquired a 25% stake in web3 gaming platform MTT ESports for $5.82m (BTC 100). The transaction was conducted using Bitcoin. Boyaa, known for its mobile poker games, does not plan to integrate MTT ESports into its ownership. Instead, the company will leverage MTT’s expertise to expand into the web3 market.
VENTURE FINANCING
US-based UGC tech company Gamebeast has secured $3.7m in a pre-Seed funding round led by J2 Ventures, with participation from A16Z Speedrun, The Mini Fund, and individual investors. The funds will support the company’s technology launch on additional platforms. Gamebeast’s product is a low-code LiveOps and data platform for game developers, but it is also being used in other sectors, such as the defense.
US-based EdTech game company Nurture has secured $2.8m in a pre-Seed funding round led by Golden Gate Ventures, Seedcamp, and Reach Capital. The funds will be used to diversify the content available on the company’s platform, which is designed to develop critical life skills in children, such as social, financial, and nutritional skills. The company’s main title, Doki’s Delivery, focuses on developing social-emotional skills in children.
US-based gaming tech company Dirt Research Technologies has secured $2m in a pre-Seed funding round from angel investors. The funds will support the expansion of its data collection capabilities and enhance its AI-driven audience insight tools. The company is developing technology to collect emotional and physiological data from target audiences and provide insights to various sectors, including the gaming industry.
US-based web3 games rewarding platform Forge has secured undisclosed funding from Ava Labs, Sui Foundation, and various angel investors. The company has reached 1 million registered users and collaborated with 60 game partners. It previously raised $11m in Oct’23.
PUBLIC OFFERING
India-based digital gaming and esports company Nazara Technologies (NSE: NAZARA) has secured $108m (₹900 crores) via the issuance of 9.43 million preferred stocks from key investors SBI Mutual Fund, Junomoneta Finsol, and Think Investments. The funds will support the company’s M&A activities. Nazara is investing in gaming companies, with its most recent investment in Moonshine Technology in Sep’24. Additionally, the company has acquired a 19.35% stake in India-based media company Absolute Sports for $17.4m (₹145.5 crores), with 50% paid in cash and the remainder in stocks. This acquisition brings Nazara’s total stake in Absolute Sports to 91%. Absolute Sports owns several media brands, with its primary brand being Sportskeeda.
FUNDRAISING
US-based investment company Patron has secured a new $100m fund, with investors including individual investors from a16z, Y Combinator, Union Square Ventures, SV Angel, and Benchmark. Fund 2 will maintain the same focus as the first $90m fund, launched in Oct’21, targeting the gaming and technology sectors. The new fund plans to distribute $1m to $4m across 20-25 companies. The first fund invested in companies such as Altera, Kudos, Tonic Music, and Raid Base.
