Global Gaming Deals Report 2024

Executive summary

2024 recap and 2025 predictions

1

Executive Summary

2024 Summary

2025 Outlook

— M&A activity shifted from pure financial arbitrage to more targeted,

long-term, objective-oriented deals, remaining above pre-COVID levels.

— Amid a stricter environment, many strategic players streamlined pipelines,

announced layoffs and offloaded non-core assets while doubling down on

core businesses (e.g., Embracer Group, MTG, Take-Two, Aristocrat).

— M&A spanned all segments, with the work-for-hire sector taking center

stage through the $2.8B Keywords buyout and the sale of 16 other WFH

studios.

— In an investor-friendly climate, private equity firms seized the opportunity

to acquire companies (e.g., Keywords, Jagex, Private Division) and provide

growth capital (e.g., Aonic, Saber).

— Many VCs pivoted from funding game development studios to investing in

platform and tech startups, while corporate venture funds offered more

favorable terms for game studios.

— IPO activity remained low (e.g., Shift Up, Winking Studios) as most

companies delayed going public amid macro uncertainty.

We anticipate sustained M&A momentum to match or slightly exceed 2024

levels, driven by:

– Lower interest rates, stronger public markets, and significant cash
reserves

are expected to fuel more acquisitions by public strategics.

– PE firms spending more time on gaming opportunities and potential

borrowing costs easing will lead to more buyouts, PE-backed acquisitions,

and PE-led investments this year.

– VCs will deploy more funds into platform and tech startups, leaving

corporate and strategic venture arms to step up investments in game

developers. Although high-profile gaming teams would still command strong

valuations, such deals will be less frequent. Renewed crypto enthusiasm and

rising interest in AI-driven solutions will create fresh investment

opportunities in web3 and tech-centric ventures.

– A more favorable market environment could reopen the IPO window, with

some private companies pursuing the public route. Simultaneously, public

companies may rely more on PIPEs to finance future growth.

Executive summary

2024 recap and 2025 predictions

2

Executive Summary

2024 Summary

2025 Outlook

– We anticipate sustained M&A momentum to match or slightly exceed 2024

levels, driven by several factors:

﹣
Lower interest rates, stronger public markets, and significant cash

reserves are expected to fuel more acquisitions by public strategics.

﹣
PE firms dedicating more attention to gaming opportunities and easing

borrowing costs will likely result in more buyouts, PE-backed

acquisitions, and PE-led investments.

– VCs will deploy more funds into platform and tech startups, leaving

corporate and strategic venture arms to step up investments in game

developers.

– Although high-profile gaming teams will still command strong valuations,

such deals are expected to be less frequent. Renewed enthusiasm for crypto

and rising interest in AI-driven solutions will create fresh investment

opportunities in web3 and tech-centric ventures.

– A more favorable market environment could reopen the IPO window, with

some private companies pursuing the public route. At the same time, public

companies may increasingly rely on PIPEs to finance future growth.

— M&A activity shifted from opportunistic, short-term “arbitrage” deals to

more strategic, long-term, and objective-driven transactions, with

deal-making activity remaining above pre-COVID levels.

— Amid a stricter environment, many strategic players streamlined pipelines,

announced layoffs and offloaded non-core assets while doubling down on

core businesses (e.g., Embracer Group, MTG, Take-Two, Aristocrat).

— M&A activity spanned all segments, with the work-for-hire sector taking

center stage, highlighted by the $2.8B Keywords buyout and the sale of 16

other WFH studios.

— In an investor-friendly climate, private equity firms seized the opportunity

to acquire companies (e.g., Keywords, Jagex, Private Division) and provide

growth capital (e.g., Aonic, Saber).

— Many VCs shifted their focus from funding game development studios to

investing in platform and tech startups, while corporate venture funds

accelerated their investments in gaming studios.

— IPO activity remained low (e.g., Shift Up, Winking Studios) as most

companies delayed going public amid macro uncertainty.

InvestGame x $GDEV:

7 must-read analyses

Recent content updates on investgame.net

Our latest platform news & updates

3

Executive Summary

In Jul’24, we announced a collaboration with

$GDEV to produce a series of in-depth analyses

on key gaming investment trends and strategic

growth opportunities.

Since then, we’ve published 7 deep and insightful

research papers, which can be found on our new

website section
!

We’ve uploaded dozens of new PDFs to our

Reports section
, a go-to source for industry

insights on market and public companies.

Type a keyword into the search bar and let our

engine do the rest!

This year, we launched the
List of 140

Industry-Focused Funds
, a regularly updated tool

to help you find relevant investors.

Library of industry reports and

140+ gaming funds list

Unlock exclusive insights with our premium Excel

dataset for $25 tier
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— 4 tables a month with all the industry deals

— Exclusive data sets for our quarterly reports

— Data sets for InvestGame x $GDEV features

— M&A Sell-Side Advisory League Table.

— An
expanded list of 100 investors
with data on the

funds’ origin, specialization, LinkedIn, and emails.

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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Most notable deals last quarter

Select transactions from Q4’24

4

Executive Summary

Note: (1) represents two VC rounds closed in Oct’24 and Dec’24; (2) represents two fixed income issuances in Nov’24 and Dec’24; (3) includes PIPEs in Oct’24 and Nov’24

PRIVATE INVESTMENTS

PUBLIC OFFERINGS

5

Enhanced deal-making activity strengthens across all fronts

Closed deals reflect notable YoY improvements

Executive Summary

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals

(*) closed M&A deals, incl. earn-out (e.g., $2.0B Superplay acquisition), but excluding announced and not yet closed transactions (e.g., Easybrain, Plarium, Paxie Games)

PRIVATE INVESTMENTS
(in $B)

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
*

(in $B)

PUBLIC OFFERINGS
(in $B)

PRIVATE INVESTMENTS:
Corporate, VC & PE
(in $B)

Executive Summary

6

“‘COVID” ACCELERATION

POST-PANDEMIC GROWTH

“HANGOVER”

STABILIZATION

Despite a seasonal dip, Q4’24 investment activity delivered YoY boost

+22% funding and +12% rounds (vs. Q4’23)

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals

Rising M&A tide of large-cap completed deals and fresh announcements

Marking one of the strongest quarters in two years

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS:
Control & Minority
(in $B)

Executive Summary

7

“‘COVID” ACCELERATION

POST-PANDEMIC GROWTH

“HANGOVER”

STABILIZATION

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals; announced deals include Easybain, Plarium, and Paxie Games

Public offerings remain volatile but are gradually picking up

Consistent three-quarter recovery trend

8

Executive Summary

PUBLIC OFFERINGS:
Listings, PIPEs & Fixed Income
(in $B)

PEAK OF PUBLIC LISTING & SHARE ISSUE ACTIVITY

MACROECONOMIC INSTABILITY & GAMING STOCKS TURBULENCE

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals

Most notable M&A deals in 2024

Select M&A deals of the year

9

Executive Summary

Notes: (1) announced date (not closed yet); n/d – not disclosed; n/m – not meaningful

TOP-10 M&A DEALS OF 2024

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Most notable investments in 2024

Top-10 select fundraisings by gaming studios and platform & tech companies

10

Executive Summary

TOP-10 GAMING STUDIOS FUNDRAISINGS

TOP-10 PLATFORM & TECH FUNDRAISINGS

Notes: (1) includes two rounds of $35m Series A in Feb’24 and $80m Series B in Jul’24; (2) includes two rounds of $21m Seed in Oct’24 and $32m Series A in Dec’24;

excl. Magic Leap convertible debt financing of $590m provided by parent company PIF

Gaming Content

Deals

Deals with Targets represented

by video game publishers

and/or developers

Downward pressure on Early-stage VC financing for gaming studios

Persistent decrease in closed rounds since early 2024

EARLY-STAGE VC:
Gaming studios
(in $M)

12

Gaming Studios

“COVID” ACCELERATION

POST-PANDEMIC GROWTH

THE NEW FUNDRAISING NORM

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals

Investments in Gaming studios 2024

Early-stage fundraisings by targets geo

13

Gaming Studios

North America

47

EARLY-STAGE # OF ROUNDS BY REGION

EARLY-STAGE CAPITAL RAISED BY REGION

Europe

44

Asia

22

MENA

16

$244m North America

$200m Europe

$41m MENA

$35m Asia

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals

14

Late-stage VC/PE funding sees improvement yet remains volatile

Modest YoY growth: 43% more capital raised and 30% more rounds closed (vs. 2023)

Gaming Studios

“COVID” ACCELERATION

CONTINUED LATE-STAGE MARKET HEADWINDS

POST-PANDEMIC GROWTH

LATE-STAGE VC & PE:
Gaming studios
(in $M)

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals

CVC activity is picking up amid VCs investment focus shift

CVC funds now lead more solo rounds and progressively co-investing with VCs

15

Gaming Studios

CORPORATE VC:
Gaming studios
(in $M)

“COVID” ACCELERATION

“HANGOVER” FOLLOWED BY STABILIZATION &

INCREASING CO-INVESTMENT ROUNDS WITH VCs

POST-PANDEMIC GROWTH

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals

VC FUNDS:
Ranked by number of deals
*

Most active Pre-seed & Seed VC funds in

2024

Investments in Gaming studios and Platform

&

Tech startups (excl. web3, esports)

16

Gaming Studios

Note: (*) weighted average ranking system (see p. 28)

VC FUNDS:
Ranked by value of deals
*

(in $M)

Most active Series A VC funds in

2024

Investments in Gaming studios and Platform

&

Tech startups (excl. web3, esports)

17

Gaming Studios

VC FUNDS:
Ranked by number of deals
*

VC FUNDS:
Ranked by value of deals
*

(in $M)

Note: (*) weighted average ranking system (see p. 28)

Most active Late-stage VC funds in

2024

Investments in Gaming studios and Platform

&

Tech startups (excl. web3, esports)

18

Gaming Studios

VC FUNDS:
Ranked by number of deals
*

VC FUNDS:
Ranked by value of deals
*

(in $M)

Note: (*) weighted average ranking system (see p. 28)

Decade in gaming M&A

Returning to normal level of activity

19

Gaming Studios

CLOSED M&A DEALS WITH $95M+ UPFRONT ENTERPRISE VALUE

Note: some transactions do not have a disclosed deal value but are counted in the total number of deals

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Sell-side gaming M&A advisors league table

Top 5 financial advisors for gaming companies in 2024

20

Gaming Studios

LEADING SELL-SIDE FINANCIAL ADVISORS 2024

Note: only deals involving game developers and publishers (completed or announced in 2024) with an upfront EV of more than $65m were included in the analysis

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Gaming vs. Platform

&

Tech

Rounds with a disclosed deal value above $1m,

excl. startups involved in web3, esports, and

cash-related activities

Platform & Tech investments nearly doubled in 2024

VCs significantly boosted their interest in platform & tech startups

22

Note: (1) VC&PE-led deals with disclosed deal values above $1M, excluding any web3 and cash/skill-based related deals; (2) include two rounds of $21m Seed in Oct’24 and $32m Series A in Dec’24

Platform & Tech

“‘COVID” ACCELERATION

POST-PANDEMIC GROWTH

GROWTH

“HANGOVER” FOLLOWED BY STABILIZATION

TOTAL CAPITAL RAISED
1

(in $M)

23

Platform & Tech

Note: (*) VC&PE-led deals with disclosed deal values above $1M, excluding any web3 and cash/skill-based related deals and Epic Games rounds

“Picks & Shovels” overcome investments in gaming content

Gaming VC funds are shifting their focus toward platform & tech investments

TOTAL CAPITAL RAISED
*

(in $M)

TOTAL NUMBER OF ROUNDS
*

Gaming Market Update

Market insights from our partners

Steam continues to beat all-time high records, with AA/indie

teams being the primary revenue driver

25

Gaming Market Update

Note: (*) total gross revenue from game sales (excluding microtransactions)

Source:
VG Insights

Steam gross full game revenue
*
and peak online user activity (in $B)

20-Nov-24

2.4m units

$114m sales

06-Dec-24

4.1m units

$99m sales

10-Oct-24

1.1m units

$60m sales

31-Oct-24

1m units

$48m sales

11-Oct-24

0.7m units

$40m sales

12-Nov-24

0.7m units

$31m sales

GROSS FULL GAME REVENUE & PEAK ONLINE USERS

TOP NEW RELEASES BY FULL-GAME SALES Q4’24

IAP NET REVENUE: GLOBAL MOBILE MARKET

26

Gaming Market Update

The mobile market has stabilized, with Asian developers serving

as the primary source of new top releases

19-May-24

7m installs

$797m Revenue

Dashboard

Dungeon &

Fighter Mobile

30-Oct-24

46m installs

$267m Revenue

Dashboard

Pokémon TCG

Pocket

17-May-24

15m installs

$144m Revenue

Dashboard

Wuthering

Waves 2.0

15-May-24

2m installs

$117m Revenue

Dashboard

学園アイドルマスター

19-Jun-24

18m installs

$183m Revenue

Dashboard

Zenless Zone

Zero

10-Jun-24

2m installs

$129m Revenue

Dashboard

三国：
谋
定天下

Action RPG

Action RPG

CCG

4X Strategy

Simulation

Action RPG

Note: (*) Net revenue from in-app purchases across mobile games genres;

Source:
AppMagic

TOP NEW RELEASES BY IAP NET REVENUE IN 2024

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Appendix

Esports

28

Appendix

Methodology & Glossary

The private data contained in this report

is based on information from sources

believed to be reliable, but we can’t

guarantee accuracy and completeness.

Sources include public media, our business

partners, and market insights.

InvestGame tracks closed transactions

(unless otherwise noted) in the Video Games

industry, with target companies having core

business operations related to the Video

Games market. We do not track pure

gambling, betting, and non-gaming

blockchain
 
/
 
web3 companies.

Late-stage VC/PE

Corporate

Early-stage VC

Fixed income

IPO, SPAC

PIPE, other

Deal Types Overview

Control

Minority

— 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 and PE rounds

— Corporate Investments
 
—
 
investments

with a lead investor being a strategic/CVCs

— IPOs
 
—
 
the process of a company going

public, including IPOs, SPACs, and direct

listings

— PIPE, other
 
—
 
private investment in public

equity, direct share issue, and other

transactions with publicly traded stock

— Fixed income
 
—
 
debt-related instrument

with fixed payments and interest payments

Deal Type Terms Glossary

Target’s Sector Overview

Hardware

Other

Cash-related

PC
 
&
 
Console

Multiplatform

Mobile

Outsourcing

VR/AR

Tech

Platform

Blockchain-powered

The information, opinions, estimates,

and forecasts contained herein

are as of the date hereof and are subject

to change. We seek to update our

research as appropriate.

Gaming

Platform

& Tech

Other

M&As

Private

Investments

Public

Offerings

VC Ratings Calculation

Typically, funds do not publicly disclose

their individual participation in financing

rounds. Therefore, we do not track the exact

investment amounts by each fund; instead,

we consider the entire round size

in our ranking calculations. Our priority lies in

the total number and value of the deals

a fund participates in while also emphasizing

the value and count of deals where the fund

takes a leading role.

Our historical datasets undergo ongoing

revisions to integrate newly gathered data

and updates from our partners.

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, or a piece of legal

or professional advice.

You agree not to copy, revise, amend, or create

a derivative work, provide it to any third party,

or commercially exploit any InvestGame

research. You shall not reproduce data in any

form or by any means without the prior written

consent of InvestGame.

We would love to thank our dear friends

at 
MY.GAMES
for supporting this report.

Please note that this support did not affect

the integrity or fairness of the data and

analysis.

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LinkedIn

29

Disclaimer

Appendix

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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

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requirement within such jurisdiction.