Gaming Deals Activity Report Q1’22

Apr, 2022 Gaming Deals

Activity Report

Q1’22

In collaboration with

Supported by

Supermassive Start of the Year

Private Investments

M&A

Public Offerings

$15.2B

Value of Closed Deals*, $m

Number of Closed Deals*

By Deal Type

$15.2B

262

262

By Target Segment

Gaming

Platform&Tech

Esports

Other

12 5%

7 3%

$563 4%

v

Total

$
15.2B

value of 262 deals

(closed)

$
100.3B

value of 269 deals (closed +

announced)

Q1’22 Closed Deals Tracked

Note: (*) announced transactions are not

included in the charts and graphs; see

Methodology & Glossary

Executive Summary Q1’22

While the year of 2021 ended up smashing pretty

much all the conceivable records in the Video

Games industry, with the total value for both closed

and announced transactions reaching a new record

of $80.4B across 967 deals, Q1’22 proved that

Video Games can prosper even further as an

industry: the total value of both closed and

announced deals for the period achieved the

jaw-dropping amount of $100.3B (throughout 269

deals), already beating the full deal value of FY’21! Of

course, the lion’s share of this record belongs to the

sensational $68.7B Microsoft-Activision acquisition

(which has yet to be approved), but either way, 2022

promises to be yet another exciting year for the

industry — even despite some warning signs ahead.

In Q1’22, M&A deals reached almost the same

results as in Q1’21 in terms of the deal count (81

closed deals), while the deal value saw a notable

decrease of 23% YoY ($11.4B). It should be noted,

however, that almost 50% of the total deal value in

Q1’21 came from the acquisition of ZeniMax Media

by Microsoft for $7.5B. The top 5 M&A deals

contributed almost 68% of the total deal value, with

only one being in the Gaming segment.

We saw a devastating Public Offerings YoY

decrease, with only 7 deals of $0.5B total value

throughout Q1’22, against 38 deals of $8.7B back in

Q1’21. Nevertheless, we may already witness some

potential improvements for the situation, with

Take-Two underwritten public offering of Senior

Notes for a total value of $2.7B, and Embracer

Group additional long-term debt funding for the total

amount of $0.4B. While some of the biggest private

companies remain silent, we can still expect an

increase in the activity, especially in the second half

of 2022.

Private Investments started off with a robust first

quarter, with 174 deals of $3.2B total value; this

represents the 36% growth YoY in the deal value (vs.

$2.4B in Q1’21), and 19% growth YoY in the deal

count (vs. 146 in Q1’21). Blockchain gaming now

dominates the Private Investment category, with 3

out of 5 top deals being related to the segment.

Gaming only

$
5.3B

value of 107 closed deals

$
90.3B

value of 113 deals (closed +

announced)

Executive Summary Q1’22

The Gaming sector took up 35% of the total closed

deals value, with $5.3B across 107 deals — a

significant YoY decrease against its performance in

Q1’21 ($21.5B across 162 deals, 82% of the total

closed deals value), indicating investors generally

cooling off their immense appetites for the pure

Gaming companies, rising interests for the

Blockchain gaming startups (88 deals in Q1’22 vs. 8

deals in Q1’21), and the general market corrections.

However, we don’t expect this downward trend to

continue further into 2022, since the cumulative deal

value of the announced and closed Gaming

transactions is $90.3B, representing whopping 90%

of the total value of the deals, announced and
closed

in Q1’22.

Blockchain-powered gaming again shows highly

impressive YoY growth metrics: the total number of

deals was up 11x YoY, while the total deal value was

even stronger at 19.4x YoY ($1.6B vs. $83m); one of

the many signs of dominance was that 50% of all

Private Investments deal value deployed in Q1’22

have been associated with Blockchain.

However, the QoQ growth metrics have slowed

down, compared to the 2021 QoQ growth rates,

indicating the probable beginning of the 2022
market

correction for the segment.

The top-15 gaming VCs entered this year with a

tremendous growth in both the deal value ($3B vs

$1.1B) and the deal number (100 vs. 43). Such

significant results keep on proving the increasing

venture interest in the Video Games industry, despite

the lowering results in the Gaming sector. This

quarter, BITKRAFT Ventures led the VC chart yet

again, with 17 closed deals of $208m total value;

a16z and Makers Fund came in second and third

respectively.

The top-15 Strategic Investors together showed a

phenomenal 6.5x growth in the deal value, with a

combined amount of $94B (vs. $14.4B in Q1’21),

across such mega-deals as Activision Blizzard

acquisition by Microsoft ($68.7B), Zynga acquisition

by Take-Two Interactive ($12.7B), and Bungie

acquisition by Sony ($3.6B).

Gaming M&As only

$
4.0B

value of 52 closed deals

$
89.0B

value of 57 deals (closed +

announced)

Deals value, $m

Number of deals

M&A Activity

Closed M&As in the

Video Games Industry

With the decreased share of the Gaming sector in the

overall deal value
, the Other sector (see Methodology &

Glossary) with $4.35B value (vs. $1.3m in Q1’21) contributed

38% of the total M&A value, with 2 mega-deals here being

Asmodee acquisition by Embracer for $3.1B, and SteelSeries

acquisition by GN Store Nord for $1.2B; the Gaming sector

moved to the second place (35% of the total M&A value),

with the total deal value of $4B (vs. $14.3B in Q1’21);

Platform&Tech and Esports segments shared the third place,

showing significant growth in Q1’22 in terms of the deal

value: $1.5B vs. $11.9m, and $1.5B vs. $17.1m respectively.

In Q1’22,
5 deals contributed almost 68% of the total

deal value
, with only one being in the Gaming segment

(Sumo Group acquisition by Tencent for $1.3B), including the

above-mentioned acquisitions of Asmodee and SteelSeries;

also, MoPub acquisition by AppLovin ($1.0B), and ESL

Gaming acquisition by Savvy Gaming Group ($1.0B).

Despite the decrease in the deal value in Q1’22, we can’t

really say that this might lead to a continuous negative trend.

From our perspective,
the aggressive M&A activity will

continue
, indicated by the 3 announced mega-deals, of the

total value of $85B: Activision Blizzard acquisition by

Microsoft ($68.7B), Zynga acquisition by Take-Two
Interactive

($12.7B), and Bungie acquisition by Sony ($3.6B).

Q1’21

Q2’21

Q3’21

Q1’22

Q4’21

In Q1’22, M&A deals reached almost the same results as in

Q1’21 in terms of the deal number, with 81 closed deals,

while the deal value saw a notable decrease of 23% YoY

($11.4B). It should be noted, however, that almost 50% of

the total deal value in Q1’21 comes from the acquisition of

ZeniMax Media by Microsoft for $7.5B.

Q1’21

Q2’21

Q3’21

Q1’22

Deals value, $m

Number of deals

Q4’21

Private Investment Activity

Private Investments in the

Video Games Industry

2022 has started off with a robust first quarter, with
VC and

Corporate placements accounting for

174 deals of

$3.2B
total value; this represents the 36% growth YoY in the

deal value (vs. $2.4B in Q1’21), and 19% growth YoY in the

number of deals (vs. 146 in Q1’21).

Early-stage investments have taken up more than half

of the total deal value
(56%), with $1.8B of deployed

capital across 153 deals; with Late-stage deals accounting

for

41% ($1.3B) across 12 deals, and Corporate placing

$68m across 9 deals.

Blockchain-powered tech now dominates

the Private

Investment category
, with 3 out of 5 top deals being

related to the segment: an outstanding $450m Seed round

of Yuga Labs (known for the BAYС, CryptoPunks, and

Meebits NFTs) at $4B post-money valuation, led by a16z

crypto, taking up the first place; followed by Animoca round

of $359m at $5B valuation, led by Liberty City, and

Immutable $200m Series С round at $2.5B valuation, led by

Temasek. The other two non-blockchain top deals include

Dream Games $255m Series С round at $2.75B valuation,

led by Index Ventures, and Thatgamecompany raising

$160m from TPG and Sequoia.

Overall,
50% of all Private Investments deal value

deployed in Q1’22 have been associated with the

Blockchain-powered gaming
, gathering $1.6B across 85

deals; e.g., compare this to just $82m across 8 deals in

Q1’21, and $3.1B across 132 deals in FY’21.

Deals value, $m

Number of deals

Public Offerings Activity

Public Offerings in the

Video Games Industry

We saw
a devastating YoY decrease in the Public

Offerings activity
, with only 7 deals of $0.5B total value

throughout Q1’22, against 38 deals of $8.7B back in Q1’21.

●
The Gaming segment contributed $0.1B across 3

deals, with the Platform&Tech sector also showing

somewhat weak results with only 2 transactions

(including Versus Systems IPO), with the total

disclosed proceeds of $7m.

The reasons for Q1’22 being one of the lowest quarters for

the Public Offerings activity might be partially correlated with

the correction in the public markets, the increasing interest

rate by the Fed, and the unstable political and financial

situation in both Europe and the US.

We can already witness, however,
some potential

improvements for the situation
, with Take-Two

underwritten public offering of Senior Notes for a total value

of $2.7B, and Embracer Group additional long-term debt

funding for the total amount of $0.4B. While such huge

companies as Epic Games, Discord, and Scopely, f.ex.,

remaining silent, we can still expect an increase in the Public

Offerings activity, especially in the second half of 2022,

depending on the Fed’s future decision regarding the interest

rate, and the potential financial stabilization.

Q1’21

Q2’21

Q3’21

Q1’22

Q4’21

Rank*

Venture Capital Fund

# of Total

Deals

Total Deal

Value**, $m

# of Leading

Deals

Leading Deals

Value**, $m

Selected Lead Deals

1

BITKRAFT Ventures

17

208

10

87

Lightforge Games, GGWP, Inworld Ai, Studio 369

2

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

5

502

5

502

Yuga Labs, Carry1st, Pahdolabs, Alta, Battlebound

3

Makers Fund

10

440

6

21

Alta, Trailblazer Games

4

Index Ventures

2

295

2

295

Dream Games, Backbone

5

Griffin Gaming Partners

12

145

2

61

Spyke, Digital Insight Games

6

Tiger Global

4

168

2

85

PortalOne, Metafy

7

Galaxy Interactive

5

53

2

14

Ncore, Mirror World

8

The Games Fund

5

12

5

12

HypeMasters, Made on Earth Games

9

Sisu Games Ventures

10

31

5

4

Roleverse, Extra Dimension Games, DieNo Games

10

Play Ventures

7

57

2

8

Original Games, Block Tackle, Kek Entertainment

11

Sequoia Capital

7

547

1

7

Galaxy Fight Club

12

Hiro Capital

2

118

1

76

FRVR

13

Transcend Fund

4

196

1

5

Gardens

14

vgames

8

–

7

–

–

15

Lightspeed Venture Partners

5

227

–

–

–

Top-15 VC Funds

Note: (*) based on the internal weighted average ranking system; (**) based on

investments with the disclosed deal value

Top-15 Strategic Investors*

Rank**

Strategic Investor

# of

deals

Disclosed

Value, $m

Deal Type

Investment Focus

1

Microsoft

1

68 700

M&As

PC&console

2

Take-Two Interactive

1

12 700

M&As, Corporate

PC&console, Mobile

3

Sony

5

3 640

M&As, Corporate

PC&console, Tech

4

Saudi PIF (incl. Savvy

Gaming Group)

5

2 735

M&As, Corporate

PC&console, Esports

5

Tencent incl. subsidiaries

6

1 263

M&As, Corporate

PC&console, Mobile

6

Embracer Group

2

3 100

M&As

PC&console, Mobile,

Board Games

7

AppLovin

1

1 050

M&As

Tech, Mobile

8

Team 17

3

217

M&As

PC&console

9

Nexters

3

125

M&As

Mobile

10

Krafton

4

78

M&As, Corporate

Mobile, Tech

11

Overwolf

3

33

M&As, Corporate

P2E, Tech

12

Nacon

2

61

M&As,

PC&console

13

Stillfront Group

1

301

M&As

Mobile, PC&console

14

Scopely

2

20

M&As, Corporate

Mobile

15

Ubisoft

2

16

Corporate

PC&console, P2E

In Q1’22, the
top-15 Strategic Investors showed a phenomenal

6.5x growth
in terms of the deal value, with a combined amount of

$94B (vs. $14.4B in Q1’21) across 41 deals (vs. 78 in Q1’21).

Microsoft took the first place with the biggest and probably one of the

most influential deals in the gaming industry yet, — the acquisition of

Activision Blizzard for $68.7B.

The acquisition of the mobile gaming company Zynga for $12.7B helped

Take-Two Interactive reach second place of the rating.

Not only Sony started the year with 5 deals, but the company also

initiated one of the mega-deals: the acquisition of Bungie, an original

developer of the
Halo
series and a studio behind the
Destiny
franchise,

for $3.6B.

For the first time ever in the list, there is a strategic investor from the

MENAP region, — Saudi Private Investment Fund (‘PIF’), with 5 deals of

$2.7B total value, including investments in 3 public gaming companies.

Other notable investors include:

●
Tencent with 6 deals, including Sumo Group takeover for

$1.3B;

●
Embracer Group with 2 deals, including the acquisition of the

board games developer and publisher Asmodee, for $3.1B;

●
AppLovin with $1.05B MoPub acquisition.

With the already skyrocketing results in Q1’22 (compared to FY’21), and

the announcements from such notable Strategic Investors as Embracer,

Sony, and Microsoft, as well as the increased activity from the MENAP

investors,
we see a very strong possibility of the even more

sizable deals
happening in the year of 2022.

Note: (*) including recently announced and unclosed transactions; (**) based on the internal

weighted average ranking system, this rating reflects most active strategics, thus the deal value

alone does not guarantee the top spot — the number of deals is substantial too.

$883m
stake in Feb’22

$332m
stake in Feb’22

$235m
stake in Mar’22

$1.05B
for the 100% stake

$450m
for the 100% stake

$3.6B

$3.1B

$68.7B

$12.7B

Q1’22 Largest Closed and Announced M&A Transactions

Gaming

Companies

Gaming:

Investment

Activity

Investment Activity* in the

Gaming Sector

With $1.1B throughout 52 deals,
Gaming investment

activity has been seeing a decline in the deal value
,

demonstrating a 2.5x YoY decrease in the deal value against

Q1’21 ($2.7B), plus a 1.9x YoY decline in the number of

deals (52 vs. 96); this, along with the Q2-Q4’21 numbers,

might seem like a somewhat fading interest of investors in

the pure Gaming companies, what with the rising interest in

Blockchain-powered gaming, combined with the generally

harsher market conditions of today.

●
8 Late-stage placements provided $678m (63%),

topped by $255m Series С of Dream Games,

against 5 deals of $730m total value in Q1’21;

Deals value, $m

Number of deals

Q1’21

Q2’21

Q3’21

Q1’22

Q4’21

●
However, 37 Early-stage VC deals contributed $334m

of disclosed deal value (31%), with the biggest deal

being a casual games platform Frvr raising $76m from

Hiro Capital (lead), Accel and Makers, followed by the

$55m social mobile games studio Spyke Seed round,

and two $25m Series A deals, raised by Gamefam

(Roblox games developer) and Frost Giant Studios

(indie games studio); for comparison, there were 50

Early-stage Gaming deals in Q1’21, with the total

disclosed deal value of $260m, meaning the rounds

have become less frequent, but bigger on average

($6.4m/round in Q1’21 vs. $10.1m/round in Q1’22);

●
No PIPE deals have been announced or closed in

Q1’22, in a stark contrast to Q1’21, which saw 13

deals of $1.6B total value.

Mobile companies dominated the sector’s activity
, with

$600m put across 23 deals, followed by Multiplatform ($308m

across 11 deals), and VR/AR segments ($88m across 5 deals);

peculiar enough, the PC&console segment has seen fewer

capital than the VR/AR companies ($84m throughout 13 deals).

Q1’22: Deal Value, $m

Corporate

VC

PIPE, Other

$1.1B

$68 6%

Note: (*) Investment Activity includes

Private Investments and PIPE, Other

Q1’21

Q2’21

Q3’21

Q1’22

Deals value, $m

Number of deals

Q4’21

Gaming: M&A and Exits Activity

Exits* in the Gaming Sector

The Gaming sector in Q1’22 showed a dramatic

decline
of 76% YoY to $4.1B in the deal value, with a

slight decrease in the total number of deals (from 63 in

Q1’22 to 54 in Q1’22).

M&A deals continued to be the main contributor
to

the exit activity, with the overall share increase from 85%

($14.7B) in Q1’21 to 98% ($4.0B) in Q1’22. Meanwhile,

Exits contributions showed a notable decrease from 7

public listings in Q1’21 with a total value of $2.6B, to just

2 deals of $0.1B total value (2% of the total value).

Even with the notable decrease in all the segments in both

the deal count and the deal value, the PC&console segment

still took up the first place in Q1’22, and contributed 42% of

the total deal value ($1.7B vs. $9.4B in Q1’22) in 22 deals

(vs. 31 deals in Q1’21). Multiplatform, for the first time,

overtook Mobile at the second place, with the total amount

of $1.6B (vs. $0.9B in Q1’21) across 10 deals (vs. 11 deals),

while the Mobile segment came in third deal number-wise

(17 deals vs. 15 deals), with the total amount of only $0.8B

(vs. $6.9B in Q1’21).

It might seem that there is a continuous negative trend in

terms of the deal value, but this fall-off might be potentially

offset by both the already announced mega-deals (such as

Zynga acquisition by Take-Two Interactive ($12.7B), and

Bungie acquisition by Sony ($3.6B)), and the M&A activity of

huge strategic investors, including Embracer Group, which

has $1B of cash and credit facilities at hand to finance the

future acquisitions. Meanwhile, we see a clear drop of

interest in the Public Offerings activitу, due to the current

market correction and the increasing interest state by the

Fed.

Note: (*) Exits include M&As, direct

listings, SPACs, and IPOs

Gaming:

Late-stage VC &

Corporate

The number of the Late-stage VC & Corporate deals in

Q1’22 was down more than half

compared to Q1’21, with

the
deal value showing only a slight decline
(-10.3%

YoY). At the same time, the average size of the disclosed

deals fell 2x ($62m in Q1’22 vs. $119m in Q1’21), while the

deal count increased from 7 in Q1’21 to 12 in Q1’22.

The segment ratio has significantly changed
, compared

to Q1’21: a year ago, the Mobile segment brought in only

22% in the deals value, while Multiplatform was responsible

for 68% of all the capital raised. In Q1’22,
Mobile was the

largest segment
in terms of the total deal value with $482m

raised (65%) across 7 deals, followed by Multiplatform with 3

deals of $185m total value (26%).

3 deals comprised 71%

of the Late-stage VC & Corporate

deal size
in Q1’22:

●
Turkish mobile games developer Dream Games

closed $255m Series C round, led by Index Ventures,

bringing the company’s valuation to $2.75B;

●
US-based multiplatform games developer

Thatgamecompany received $160m investment from

TPG and Sequoia;

●
UK-based mobile gaming studio Tripledot secured

$116m of Series B funding at $1.4B valuation, in a

round led by 20VC.

Q1’21

Q2’21

Q3’21

Q1’22

Q4’21

Late-Stage

Corporate

Late-stage VC & Corporate

Activity in the Gaming

Sector, $m

Q1’22: Deals Value, $m

Multiplatform

PC&Console

VR/AR

Mobile

$746m

9 1%

Q1’21

Q2’21

Q3’21

Q1’22

Deals value, $m

Number of deals

Q4’21

Gaming: Early-stage VC

Early-stage Investment

Activity in the Gaming

Sector, in $m

Compared to Q1’21,
Early-stage investments in

Q1’22 decreased in quantity
with 37 deals (-26%

YoY), but increased in terms of the amount of

funding — $334m (+28% YoY).

Thus, in Q1’22 the average check showed a 1.6x

growth YoY ($10.1m/round vs. $6.4m/round), while

the declined number of deals could potentially

indicate
either more demanding requirements

for the potential targets, or the lowering

interest in this particular segment
.

25 Seed rounds were closed with a total amount

of $129m (vs. 38 deals of $137.5m in Q1’21),

while 12 Series A rounds amounted for $205m, or

61% of the total deal value (vs. $123m, or 47% in

Q1’21).

The Multiplatform segment took up the first place

with $123m (37%) raised across 8 deals (vs.

$79m across 13 deals in Q1’21); it overcame the

Mobile segment, which raised $117m (35%)

throughout 16 deals (vs. $139m throughout 23

deals in Q1’21). PC&console came in third, with

$76m (23%) raised across 10 deals (vs. $25m

across 8 deals back in Q1’21).

The top 4 deals with the total deal value of

$181m contributed almost 54%
of all value,

including FRVR Series A round of $76m, Spyke

Seed round of $55m raised, and two Series A

rounds of Frost Giant Studios and Gamefam,
each

raising $25m.

The US market was still the most attractive

one for investors
, with $134m (40% of the total

deal value) raised across 12 deals (vs. $102.9m,

raised across 14 deals in Q1’21). Turkey came in

second, with $66m (20% of all value) raised

throughout 5 deals (vs. $59m throughout 14 deals

in Q1’21).

Blockchain

Gaming

Presented by

Q1’21

Q2’21

Q3’21

Q1’22

Deals value, $m

Number of deals

Q4’21

Blockchain Gaming Deals in

the Video Game Industry**

In Q1’22, we continue to see highly impressive

YoY growth metrics in the blockchain gaming

portion of the industry: the total number of deals

was up 11x YoY (88 vs. 8), while the total deal

value was even stronger at 19.4x YoY ($1.6B vs.

$83m).

While the above showcases the continued

investor interest in the potential future of uniquely

enabled business models through blockchain

games, the QoQ growth metrics have slowed

down a bit, compared to the QoQ growth rates of

2021, probably indicating the beginning of the

2022 market correction we predicted in the
l
ast

report
. The total number of deals for Q1’22 saw a

3.5% QoQ growth (88 vs. 85), and the total deal

value was 3.5% higher QoQ ($1.6B vs. $1.56B).

The biggest Q1’22 deals were Yuga Labs $450m

Seed round (led by a16z crypto), Animoca Brands

$358m Series B+ (led by Liberty City Ventures

and 10T Holdings) and Immutable $200m Series

C (led by Temasek).

Note: (*) the following analysis has been

provided by Naavik consulting firm,

based on InvestGame data; (**) only

closed deals are reflected in the graphs

Blockchain Gaming Deals

*

Blockchain Gaming Deals

Over the quarter, ~88% of the deal count and ~57%

of the deal value was concentrated in Seed round

investments. The latter was mainly due to Yuga Labs

massive $450m Seed round raise. However, even
on

removing that outlier, the average Seed round check

sizes were still bigger than in the previous quarters

(~$6.6m/deal vs ~$3.4m/deal in Q4’21).

Around half of all the Seed round deals were higher

than the ~$4m/deal average, with New Sin City,

MetaMagnet, Idle StoneAge, Sidus Heroes, Eternal

Labs, and Affyn seeing Seed check sizes >=$20m.

The remaining ~43% of the quarter’s deal value was

in various Series A/B/B+/C across a total of 11

deals. The top 4 notable were Animoca Brands at

$359m (Series B+), Immutable at $200m (Series C),

Everyrealm at $60m (Series A), and Fan Controlled

Football (FCF) at $40m (Series B).

If there was one head-scratcher investment this past

quarter, it was Yuga Labs $450m ‘Seed’ round! With

the company valued at $4B and top-tier VCs like

a16z, LionTree and FTX participating in the round,

they want to create a ‘truly decentralized and

interoperable’ gaming metaverse, that ‘makes all

other metaverses obsolete’.

Not only were we left with more questions than

answers while consuming
their pitch deck
, but the

lofty goals/promises pitched around a fully

interoperable, SDK-ready, ‘MetaRPG’ gaming

metaverse experience raised all kinds of red flags.

That said, Yuga Labs now has a significant war

chest, and the BAYC NFTs are owned by some of

the most popular people in the world. In other

words, they have a development budget to put to

use, and theoretically have the strongest influencer

marketing roster ever! This will definitely be one

company to watch over 2022/23.

Note: (*) the following analysis has been

provided by Naavik consulting firm,

based on InvestGame data

Presented by

*

Animoca Brands $358m Series B+ is important not

just for them as a company, but for the brands and

companies they partner with across their ecosystem.

They were valued at $2.2B in 2021, and 2022
kicked

off stronger with a $5.4B valuation. They currently

have one of the broadest investment portfolios

across the blockchain space, and it is probably their

Blockchain Gaming, Infrastructure, Marketplaces,

and DeFi portfolio companies that will showcase the

largest upsides. Read more about Animoca Brands

core strategy and investment philosophy
here

and

here
.

Blockchain Gaming Deals

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Immutable, the creator of the NFT-focused layer-2

scaling protocol Immutable X, secured a $200m

Series C, launching the Sydney-based startup to a

$2.5B valuation. The funds will mostly be used to

double their team size to 350 people over 2023,

through investing in a global partnerships + gaming

advisory team and tripling their product and

engineering teams. Immutable ecosystem and

ambitions have grown to a point where it isn’t just a

games company; it’s also a platform company that

aims to serve many games companies. Read more

about their past, present and future
here
.

Arguably the most interesting investment of the last

quarter was FCF’s $40m Series B. FCF is pro

(American) football re-imagined for the modern
digital

world, where real games (with real players) are

played in a single, high tech studio arena, streamed

live on Twitch, and viewers call the plays. The teams

are currently owned by various famous content

creators, musicians, sports personalities etc., and

viewers who do want to call the plays in real time

need to purchase the NFTs of the team they
support.

All in all, it’s a pretty novel way to recycle personal

brands into sellable NFTs with tangible real-world

utility, and definitely a company to keep an eye on.

Overall, it seems like the blockchain gaming deal

market moved into its second stage of maturity,

wherein the companies garnering most of the

funding attention are no longer the ones building

platform layers on which future blockchain games

could live, but rather the blockchain gaming studios

themselves.

Note: (*) the following analysis has been

provided by Naavik consulting firm,

based on InvestGame data

Presented by

*

Appendix

Methodology & Glossary

InvestGame tracks closed transactions (unless otherwise noted) in the Video Games

industry, with target companies having core business operations related Video

Games market. Please note that we do not track pure gambling, betting, and

non-gaming blockchain/web3 companies. All deals values are given in the U.S.

dollars or converted to the U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the closing

date of transaction.

The private data contained in this report is based on information from sources

believed to be reliable, but accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed.

Sources include public media, our business partners, data provider S&P Capital IQ,

and market insights. The information, opinions, estimates, and forecasts contained

herein are as of the date hereof and are subject to change without prior notification.

We seek to update our research as appropriate.

Private

Investments

Control

Minority

Late-stage VC

Corporate

Early-stage VC

Public

Offerings

PIPE, other

Fixed income

IPO, SPAC

Deal Types Overview

M&As

—
Control M&As
— mergers and acquisitions

resulting in the change of control (50%+

ownership)

—
Minority M&As
— sale of a minority stake in

the business

—
Early-stage VC
— pre-seed, seed, and

Series A rounds with a lead VC fund

—
Late-stage VC
— Series B, Series C, and

later-lettered venture rounds

—
Corporate Investments
— investment with a

lead investor being corporation

—
IPOs
— the process of company going public

including IPOs, SPACs, and direct listings

—
Fixed-income
— debt-related instrument

with fixed payments and interest payments

—
PIPE, other
— private investment in public

equity, direct share issue, and other

transactions with publicly traded stock

Deal Type Terms Glossary

Target’s Sector Overview

Gaming

PC & Сonsole

Multiplatform

Mobile

Outsourcing

VR/AR

Other

Hardware

Other

Cash-related

Platform

&Tech

Platform

Tech

VR/AR

Blockchain-powered

Esports

InvestGame Patreon

The free version of this report includes general + Gaming data. To get more

specific data, please contact us at
digest@investgame.net
.

If you’d like to support InvestGame,
Patreon
donation is always

appreciated!

Disclaimer

This report is intended for general information

purposes only and is educational in nature; it is not a

solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any financial

instruments, or to participate in any particular trading

strategy. Nothing in this document constitutes a

personal recommendation, legal, or other

professional advice.

You agree that you shall not copy, revise, amend,

create a derivative work, provide to any third party,

or in any way commercially exploit any InvestGame

research, and that you shall not reproduce data in

any form or by any means, without the prior written

consent of InvestGame.

This document is for distribution only, as may be

permitted by applicable local laws. It is not directed

to, or intended for distribution to or use by, any

person or entity who is a citizen or resident of or

located in any state, country or other jurisdiction

where such distribution, publication, availability or

use would be contrary to law or regulation or would

subject InvestGame to any registration or licensing

requirement within such jurisdiction.

Message to

Readers

InvestGame team proudly presents Global Gaming Deals

Activity Reports: the annual report on
FY’21
, the one covering

Q1-Q3’21
, and the one on
H1’21
. You can find others
here
.

We also produce weekly email digests, covering all the latest

gaming deals (
subscribe!
). If you like what we do, please

support us on Patreon
.

We would love to thank our dear friends at

Hiro Capital
for

supporting this Report.
Please note that this support did

not in any way affect the integrity or fairness of the data,

and the analysis presented.

We would also like to extend thanks to our friends at
Naavik

for covering the Blockchain Gaming Deals part of this report.

Thank you for reading!

 
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