Drake Star: The State of the Video Game Investment Market in Q3 2023
M&A & private investments are at the lowest point in the last couple of years.
In the third quarter, 33 M&A deals were announced with a total value of $5 billion. One such deal, worth $1.72 billion, was the acquisition of Kahoot!, an interactive learning platform. This deal has an indirect connection to games.
Among other significant deals, Playtika acquired Youda Games and Innplay Labs for $465 million; Tencent acquired Techland and Visual Arts; Sumo Group acquired Midoki; Supercell acquired a majority stake in Ultimate Studio; Capcom acquired Swordcanes Studio.
In the third quarter, private investments decreased to 185, with a total transaction volume of $1 billion.
In terms of the number of transactions, this is the lowest figure since the second quarter of 2022. In terms of volume, the only lower quarter in the last 2.5 years was the second quarter of 2023.
Among the most notable deals of this quarter are a $100 million investment in Candivore by Haveli Investments; a $90 million investment in Second Dinner by Griffin Gaming Partners and NetEase; and a $54 million investment in Story Protocol by a conglomerate of investors led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Bitkraft, Andreessen Horowitz, and Play Ventures are the most prominent funds of 2023 at the moment.