Mergers and acquisitions are frequent in the games industry, with companies aiming to expand their portfolio and reach across the ever-growing games market.
Large video game publishers will often acquire developers that have a history of producing successful titles in hope of creating more hits, while those outside of the industry are ever trying to get in on a slice of the action with the purchase of a studio being one of the easiest routes.
As a result, the profitability of the market is being noticed more than ever and the number of deals are only on the rise too.
$60 billion
Within the first six months of 2021, the games industry experienced $60 billion worth of deals, with 44 per cent of that figure accounted for by those in mobile games.
By the end of the year, Drake Star Partners stated that games industry acquisitions exceeded $85 billion, with mobile accounting for the highest value of deals at $15.5 billion.
If that wasn’t enough, the first month of 2022 ushered in not one, but two of the largest video games acquisitions ever, overtaking the previous year.
Here we examine the top 10 biggest video game acquisitions of all time and why those acquisitions were made.