Examining a Decade of Gaming Startup Exit Path

Examining a

Decade of Gaming

Startup Exit Paths

#7

FEATURE BY

42

GAMING EXITS
MATCHING

FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

EXIT BY GOING PUBLIC

2

Note: (1) A company was excluded if the company was acquired or went public before 2014 (e.g., Supercell – first sale in 2013). If the company had

multiple deals in 2014 – 2024 – only the first deal was included as an exit (e.g., King – IPO in 2014 included, but M&A in 2016 was excluded).

Source: InvestGame

FEATURE BY GDEV

FIRST-TIME GAMING STARTUP EXITS OVER THE LAST DECADE
1

$
500
M+

VALUATION AT EXIT

(UPFRONT EV for M&A or

MARKET CAP at INITIAL LISTING)

EXIT VIA MERGER OR ACQUISITION

ILLUSTRATIVE:
COMPANIES EXCLUDED FROM OUR ANALYSIS

FIRST-TIME EXIT

DURING 2014 – 2024

1

2

SELECT LARGEST PUBLIC LISTINGS BY INITIAL MARKET CAP

SELECT LARGEST M&A EXITS BY UPFRONT EV

3

Note: (1) Upfront EV; (2) By the time of exit; (3) Total amount raised raised before exit excluding debt financing; (4)

Including PE-backed companies; (5) Market Cap at IPO; (6) Lead investors in all rounds of financing

Source: InvestGame; PitchBook

FEATURE BY GDEV

DATE

TARGET

EV
1

PLATFORM
2

LAST ROUND

Apr’23

$4.9B

MOBILE

SERIES E (2020)

Mar’21

$4.0B

MOBILE

Sep’14

$2.5B

PC & CONSOLE

N.A.

Aug’21

$2.2B

MOBILE

N.A.

Jul’20

$2.1B

MOBILE

SEED (2014)

Mar’21

$38.3B

SERIES H (2021)

Apr’21

$28.6B

PE GROWTH (2018)

Aug’21

$19.3B

LATE-STAGE (2020)

Sep’20

$13.7B

SERIES E (2019)

Mar’14

$7.1B

Series A (2005)

BACKING
4

VC-backed

VC-backed

Bootstrapped

VC-backed

VC-backed

VC-backed

VC-backed

VC-backed

VC-backed

MOBILE

MOBILE

MOBILE

MOBILE

MOBILE

INVESTORS
6

Bootstrapped

SERIES C (2013)

N.A.

N.A.

DATE

TARGET

MKT CAP
5

PLATFORM
2

LAST ROUND

RAISED
3

$1,920m

N.A.

N.A.

N.A.

$19m

$856m

$542m

$656m

$899m

$46m

RAISED
3

BACKING
4

INVESTORS
6

4

Source: InvestGame

EXITS VIA PUBLIC LISTING WITH INITIAL MARKET CAP ≥$500m

There were 42 gaming exits over the last decade with ~45% of exits happening in COVID years (2020-2021).

EXITS VIA M&A WITH UPFRONT EV ≥$500m

FEATURE BY GDEV

5

DISTRIBUTION OF EXITS BY SIZE
2

DISTRIBUTION OF COMPANIES BY THE BACKING STATUS
1

FEATURE BY GDEV

Note: (1) Corporate – sponsored by corporate investors, Bootstrapped – no external financing prior to exit, VC-backed – also Includes PE-backed

companies; (2) For IPOs, Market Cap at IPO pricing is used; for M&A deals, Upfront EV is used.

Source: InvestGame

M&As are more common for exits below $1B, while public offerings are naturally associated with higher valuations. Only

companies that went public achieved valuations of $5B or more. However, VCs tend to prefer public offerings, whereas

bootstrapped businesses are more inclined toward M&As.

6

YEARS TO EXIT SINCE THE YEAR FOUNDED

In the analyzed period, 75% exits were gaming companies focused on Mobile, regardless of the deal type (M&A or IPO)

given that Mobile companies take ~40% less time to reach an exit compared to PC & Console companies.

DISTRIBUTION OF EXITS BY PLATFORM
1

FEATURE BY GDEV

Note: (1) Refers to the primary platform in the company’s revenue structure at the time of exit.

Source: InvestGame

7

Over half of the analyzed gaming companies achieved an exit within 10 years of founding. M&As are more skewed toward

quicker exits (median for M&As ~8 years), whereas going public takes more time (median for public offerings ~9 years).

DISTRIBUTION OF EXITS BY YEARS SINCE FOUNDING

FEATURE BY GDEV

Source: InvestGame; Pitchbook “Exit Alternatives for US VC” August 2024