Gaming M&A and funding deals increased by 39% in 2024 | Drake star

Game mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and funding in 2024 increased by 39% to $ 27.3 billion revealed the value of the transaction for over 967 transactions, according to a report from Drake star partnersS

This is a glimmer of bright news at a time when revenue appeared stagnant and gaming companies fire more than 15,000 peopleS Actually GDC study He noted that in 2024, one in every 11 developers who were fired.

Public markets have shown signs of a recovery with the Drake Star Games Index for leading public game companies growing 10.4% for the year, said Michael Metzger, a partner at Drake Star Partners, a M&A consulting firm.

The reasons why all this is financially healthy are the main components of the acquisitions, private finance and assessments of the stock markets during the year, which was not the case in the greater times.

“It was still a good year, a stable year with over $ 27 billion in the deal, which is 39% for 2023, so this is definitely positive,” Metzger said. “Funding has two components. One is the private and the other is public. Companies can raise debt or raise more equity. 39% of the number refers to more money that exchanged hands, flowing money in the ecosystem and then used to grow inorganically. Therefore, other companies become more bigge. ”

M&A deals

M&A Activity in 2024 suffered a 21% increase in the volume of the deal over 2023, with 198 announced deals and $ 10.5 billion revealed. As predicted, several high -profile M&A deals have emerged from private capital companies, including the acquisition of keywords and the acquisition of EQT $ 2.8 billion CVC purchase for $ 1.1 billion on JagexS

Metzger focused on the fact that the number of M&A transactions rising to the M&A front, while the total value of the transaction was approximately the same. The values ​​of private funding deals have increased a lot, but much of it was the bigger part of the Disney $ 1.5 billion investment in Epic Games. Without this transaction, private funding would have more than the flat side.

Included other major transactions Playtika’s acquisition by Superplay for up to $ 1.95 billion (including profits) and release of $ 1.2 billion on EasyBrain on Tencent’s Miniclip.

The report states that the PC and the console segment remain the most active in M&A with 53 transactions, followed by mobile with 38 transactions and platform and tools with 32.

Private

While M&A reflects what is happening on a macro level among large companies, private investment shows the health of the smaller startups. This photo was a little mixed.

A total of $ 4.8 billion was raised in 711 private deals, which reflects a 30% increase in total value disclosed, but an 8% decrease in the number of transactions compared to 2023.

The main private funding included $ 1.5 billion, led by Disney, along with significant Ronds for Infinity Reality $ 350 million, built a $ 110 million ROP ROND and $ 105 million round. In early stage, transactions make up over 90% of total increases. Blockchain remains the most active segment with 250 deals, followed by a platform and tools (133) and mobile (111).

The fourth quarter was more slow with regard to the number of private funding transactions. However, private capital companies are active on the market and there are more investors entering the games from places like the Middle East. Those with successful exits are likely to return more money to games. In general, this makes Metzger optimistic that the money will continue to flow into the game industry.

Investors have provided more than $ 1.8 billion as they are raising DNEW funds. This includes subsequent means of A16Z ($ 600 million), Bitterly ($ 275 million), Vgames ($ 142 million) and Play endeavors ($ 140 million), along with new funds started by Great time ($ 150 million) and Beam Ventures ($ 150 million).

There have been low points in terms of raising new funds in the last few years, and now it’s a little rebound, Metzger said. “More special, VGames had the largest exit with the Playtika deal,” he said.

The most notable public deals included the extremely successful IPO of Shift Up in South Korea and raising Gamestop funds of $ 3 billion.

On the part of the public market, the Drake Star Games Index, which tracks the top 30 global game companies based on the same weight, has increased by 10.4% for the year. He was led by strong performances by Sea/Garena, Dena and Konami. Meanwhile, Corsair, Wemade and Unity were the weakest stocks in the index.

Q4 2024 Results

In the Q4 2024, there were 151 private spaces in the game companies, raising a total of $ 650 million. This was less than the previous quarter (181 in Q3 2024) and a year ago (170 in Q4 2023). There were 47 deals in the blockchain sector, making it the largest sector of about $ 200 million, raised in the quarter.

Gaming M&A was also smaller in Q4, with 40 deals compared to 57 in the previous quarter and 44 in Q4 2023.

Prospects

Drake Star Partners has many positive prospects for the game of games and technology in 2025 with strategic consolidations, interest in private capital and developing regulatory activity for the design of the landscape.

As the evaluations of the listed gaming companies continue to be restored, the company envisages significant progress in M&A. The key buyers to watch include Savvy/Scopely, Tencent, Krafton, Keewords Studios/EQT, Jagex/CVC, Infinite Reality and Sony, along with the newly constructed removal companies after being listed independently.

Private stock companies are expected to remain very active, with several publicly traded games potentially taken private. Ubisoft may be among the bigger candidates for the delicacy in 2025, as he has hired strategic advisers, maybe take the private part of the company.

With more than $ 1.8 billion, new capital raised from the funds in 2024, signaling the renewed interest of investors, Drake Star provides for a strong pipeline from seed financing and early stage, along with selected middle -stage circles.

However, there are winds that make it difficult for some companies. There will be winners and losses, and Amir sattat, the resource champion, noted that more than 9,800 people are likely to be fired in the games in 2025 – less than 15,000 last year, but are still significant S

“For some of these content focused companies, this really depends on the sector that focuses on your titles. Ubisoft is probably a unique story in which the titles simply have simply not fulfilled. And there are future launches are pushed into the future. That probably didn’t help, ”Metzger said.

As a result, Ubisoft marked a 46% decrease in its estimation in 2024. This is one of the reasons that it still fires people.

“This is a mixed bag with these cuts. Obviously, it is very unfortunate for those people who have been fired and some of these companies were probably too great than hiring the pandemic, “Metzger said. “I am a lot of scourges in the prospects for the next year and is sooner as it is a very positive mood around Tech, M&A, Tech IPO as a whole, partially managed by a few less regulation. It may seem to be a lot of worse, but we hope it will be fine. “

And companies often do conflicting things themselves. Meta said that this would release more than 3,000 people, with an emphasis on poor performers. But it also announced that it could invest up to $ 65 billion in AI.

“I believe that AI will actually continue to develop very, very quickly. And if you talk for three years, I see that these companies can be much more effective and in fact, even if they need less people, “Metzger said. “It’s positive if companies can repeat more quickly.”

Key growth segments are expected to include AI, technology platforms and blockchain, led by the strong recovery of the crypto market this year and the approval of the new administration of digital assets administration.

With large versions such as the Nintendo Switch 2 and Grand Theft Auto 6, expected in 2025, the game industry is ready for significant growth in players’ engagement and revenue, Metzger said. This jump can additionally lead to M&A fundraising for games for games.

Of course, in the short term, or in the long run, the games and computers are likely to be affected by the rates, given the threat of Donald Trump to impose tariffs on foreign trade. If this lasts for a long time, it can ruin the company’s economy.

With the public markets, which are recovered in 2025, Drake Star is planning IP work companies to publish this year. The company also envisages the beginning of an IPO wave of Indian Game Games.