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Weekly News Digest #17

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Weekly News Digest #17 Apr 26 — May 02, 2021 Weekly News Digest #17 Epic Games has acquired ArtStation Epic Games has announced the acquisition of a Canada­based artists community platform ArtStation for an undisclosed sum. ArtStation will remain an independent branded platform at Epic, working closely, but not exclusively, with the Unreal Engine team. ArtStation is a platform for digital artists to share, promote and sell their works. Since ArtStation's inception in 2014, Epic Games has always supported the community. Last year during the pandemic's height, Epic awarded ArtStation with an Unreal Megagrant. As a part of the acquisition agreement, Epic Games reduces the commissions that merchants pay to sell their goods on the web. Additionally, ArtStation will provide free access to its streaming video service with a vast library of guides and lessons ArtStation Learning for the remainder of 2021. This is the fourth acquisition Epic Games made this year. Earlier, the company acquired Fall Guys developer Mediatonic and two tech companies: RAD Game Tools and Capturing. Since the new announcement comes a few weeks after Epic closed Its $1B funding round led by Sony, we can fairly expect Epic to continue building its one­stop­shop infrastructure for the gaming community and make more M&As in the future. Zynga’s subsidiary Rollic Games acquires Uncosoft Zynga’s Turkish subsidiary Rollic Games has acquired Turkey­based hyper­casual mobile games developer Uncosoft for an undisclosed sum. With this acquisition, Zynga continues to establish its Turkish hub (via recent additions of Peak Games, Rollic, Onnect) and to expand further into the hyper­casual business. Rollic’s co­founder and CEO Burak Vardal indicated that Turkey has been especially competitive in the hyper­casual games field due to its large student population. Founded in 2018, Uncosoft is best known for its hyper­casual mobile titles published by Rollic such as High Heels!, and Repair My Car!. Launched in early 2021, High Heels! showed a great start and has already been downloaded over 60m times. Huuuge acquires Traffic Puzzle match­3 game Poland­based social casino games developer Huuuge (WSE: HUGE) has announced its first post­IPO acquisition, buying F2P match­3 game Traffic Puzzle from Picadilla Games for $38.9m, paid in three tranches: — $9.5m upon the closing of the deal — $25m after the assets are transferred to Huuuge — $4.4m one year after the assets hand­over (support period) The deal marks the first cornerstone in Huuuge's casual game product portfolio. Traffic Puzzle brings $30m gross annual Revenue run­rate. The implied valuation multiple is 1.3x run­rate Revenue. Being published by Huuuge in March 2019, Traffic Puzzle demonstrated +280% YoY Revenue growth, reaching 1m MAU and bringing revenue share proceeds to date. By closing the deal Huuuge expects to save $5m­$8m in 2020 net revenue share and even more in the years after. After the company went public on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in Feb'21, raising $150m of gross proceeds, we should expect more deals from Huuuge team this year. Sources: Presentation, Press Release Notable Transactions MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS UPDATE: U.S.­based video game giant Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) has completed the acquisition of U.S.­based mobile game developer Glu Mobile for $2.4B in equity value and $2.1 billion in enterprise value. Facebook, one of the most active players in the VR segment, has acquired US­based Downpour Interactive, a developer behind VR FPS Onward. Warsaw­based AAA PC and console game developer People Can Fly has acquired Canada­based gaming tech company Game On Creative, which specializes in motion capture, cinematics, and audio services. Russian state­owned Sber has announced the launch of SberGames, a gaming division, that will supplement the company's entertainment ecosystem with video games. SberGames is already in talks to acquire Lithuania­based gaming data analytics platform GOSU Data Lab. VENTURE FINANCING Norway­based gaming startup PortalOne has raised over $15m in an oversubscribed Seed round to launch PortalOne Arcade, a retro­inspired universe, made in collaboration with the company’s strategic partner Atari. Canada­based gaming platform and multiplayer games developer Gaggle Studios has raised $2m in a Seed round led by early­stage venture capital company Makers Fund. The proceeds will be used to improve the pace and consistency of Gaggle's development cycle, as well as to expand the team. Bonsai Collective, a UK­based game development studio, has secured a $3.5m investment from Super.com. The studio specializes in immersive action­adventure games and is currently developing its Super.com. The studio specializes in immersive action­adventure games and is currently developing its first title. Tier One Entertainment, a Philippines­based esports talent agency, has received an undisclosed investment in a Seed round from venture capital company Gobi Partners and record label Warner Music Group. PUBLIC OFFERING US­based video game retailer GameStop has raised $551m in an equity offering to accelerate its transition to e­commerce, which resulted in a 15% share price rise. GameStop was the major beneficiary of the Reddit­centered wave of trading popularity earlier this year. Netherlands­based media and entertainment company Azerion has raised $242m via a bond offering on Nasdaq Stockholm. The proceeds will be used to strengthen the company's presence in Nordic and European markets through a series of acquisitions. UK­based multi­operational esports firm Semper Fortis Esports has raised ~$3.52m during the first day of trading on the London­based Aquis Stock Exchange, valuing the company at ~$5.73m. The funding will be used to develop esports teams, create new alliances, and provide business­to­business advisory services. Recent investment news in the gaming industry Deals database, league tables, etc. Unsubscribe.
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