Mobile Game Frenzy Fuels Buyouts
With most of the bigger players in the videogame market being gobbled up, smaller mobile-game developers are now the target.
Seven months into the year, videogame deals totaled US$25.1 billion, eclipsing the previous full-year record of $14.9 billion in 2014, according to Digi-Capital, a Silicon Valley-based company which says it advises AR/VR, mobile and games leaders across the USA, China, Japan, South Korea and Europe.
Of the deals, 88 percent are said to have been for mobile-game makers, including three totaling $18.9 billion.
Now acquirers are said to be looking at smaller mobile developers such as Kabam and Scopely as they look to get a leg-up in the hottest market in gaming.
More than half of mobile-game revenue in the US is concentrated among 10 companies, according to industry tracker SuperData Research.
Just three companies have kept at least one game among the top 10 highest-grossing titles on Apple and Google’s US app stores since 2012. All three – King Digital, Supercell and Playtika – were snapped up this year.