M&A and Capital Raising

Electronic Arts acquires Playdemic from AT&T for $1.4B (link)

LionTree served as exclusive financial advisor to AT&T / Playdemic

• Electronic Arts has acquired Playdemic from AT&T for $1.4B in cash
• Founded in 2010, Playdemic is a mobile gaming company known for its award-winning game, Golf Clash, available on iOS, Android, and Facebook
• Golf Clash is one of the leading mobile games in the US and UK with more than 80M downloads globally to-date
• The acquisition of Playdemic is part of EA’s mobile growth strategy focused on delivering new experiences to their network of nearly half a billion players around the world
• The acquisition will add to EA’s mobile portfolio of more than 15 top live services across genres such as Lifestyle, Casual, Sports, and Mid-core games

PMML raises $22M to scale online betting and media platform Rivalry (link)

• Toronto-based PMML will use the proceeds to help fund Rivalry’s growth through hiring additional employees, expanding to new countries, and developing new products
• Eight Capital and Cormark Securities led the round, with participation from Canaccord Genuity and M Partners alongside numerous undisclosed investors

GXC raises $4.73M for game community feedback tools (link)

• South Korea-based GXC will use the proceeds to fund the development of multiple game services, including community feedback tools for mobile game developers
• GXC is the holding company of game service platform G.Round, a community-based tool aimed to help developers refine and polish upcoming releases with market-data feedback
• Konai Partners, Hana Financial Investment Co., SangSang Ventures, and Enlight Ventures led the round, with participation from additional undisclosed investors

Rovio acquires $3M equity stake in Gutsy Animations and gains exclusive rights for Moomin mobile games (link)

• Finland-based Rovio has taken a $3M equity stake in Gutsy, in addition to a similarly valued convertible loan
• As part of the agreement, Rovio has also signed a six-year exclusive deal to make games using the Moomins IP on any gaming platform

GamerzClass raises $2.5M for gaming master classes (link)

• Denmark-based GamerzClass will use the proceeds to offer online master classes with the goal of teaching people to improve their skill at video games
• GamerzClass is used by more than 250,000 active gamers in 180 countries, and charges a subscription fee of $10 per month
• ByFounders, Ben Holmes, and Morten Wulff led the round, with participation from Bumble Ventures and TrueSight Ventures

Boom Corp. raises $1.8M to develop social games (link)

• Boom Corp. is a Finnish game studio known for developing social games such as Boom Slingers, a turn-based battle game that debuted in December with 1.5M players globally
• The Company’s founders have extensive experience in gaming, having worked on titles such as Angry Birds and Badland, and will use the proceeds to expand their portfolio of social games
• VGames led the round, with participation from numerous undisclosed investors

Unity acquires Pixyz Software (link)

• Game engine platform Unity has acquired Pixyz Software for an undisclosed amount
• Pixyz is a provider of 3D data preparation and optimization software which allows creators to import 3D data into Unity and optimize models for real-time 3D development

The acquisition will allow Unity to build an LOD solution with a full suite of workflows integrated into Unity for asset generation and run-time integration

Highlights

Overwolf will pay out $29M to mod and app creators in 2021 (link)

Overwolf is a Griffin Gaming Partners Portfolio Company

• Overwolf has re-branded itself as a guild of in-game creators, and has announced that it expects to pay out $29M to players who create items to buy and sell in video games
• The Israel-based company caters its services, such as its CurseForge Core UGC platform, at modders and in-game app creators
• The Overwolf framework is used by over 30,000 creators, whose mods and apps cater to 20M gamers worldwide

TiMi Studio Group opens Seattle studio for triple-A game development (link)

• China-based TiMi Studio Group is a Tencent-owned developer known for mobile games such as Call of Duty: Mobile and Honor of Kings
• TiMi Seattle will work on multi-platform triple-A games, including an original IP that has yet to be revealed
• The studio will be led by gaming industry veterans Scott Warner and Rosi Zagorcheva, and will be based in Bellevue, Washington

Player spending in mobile Sports games rose to $649M during the past 12 months in the United States, according to Sensor Tower (link)

• A report from Sensor Tower claims that player spending in the mobile Sports category in the United States increased by approximately 16% to $648.8M during the past twelve months
• The report also concluded that the highest grossing Sports game by player spending between June 1^st, 2020, and May 31^st, 2021, was Playdemic’s Golf Clash, followed by Miniclip’s 8 Ball Pool and Ten Square Games’ Fishing Clash
• The Realistic Sports subgenre was the number 1 revenue generator of the three Sports subcategories during the past year, with player spending increasing by 11.4% YoY to approximately $382M

Mojang and Sega partner to bring Sonic the Hedgehog to Minecraft (link)

• Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog will be added to Minecraft as a part of the character’s 30^thanniversary celebration
• The game will also feature a two-week Sonic-themed event showcasing iconic levels and characters from the franchise

Gaming Public Multiples