Analytical company InvestGame has published a report on gaming deals for the first quarter of 2024: we are talking about private investments, M&A, and public offerings. Judging by the report, investors are still cautious, but there are signs of improvement in the market.
According to InvestGame's calculations, in January-March 2024, game-related companies made deals totaling $4.9 billion. That's twice as much as in the first quarter of 2023. At the same time, the number of deals fell by a third to 132.
Private Equity
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
Public offerings
According to InvestGame's calculations, in January-March 2024, game-related companies made deals totaling $4.9 billion. That's twice as much as in the first quarter of 2023. At the same time, the number of deals fell by a third to 132.
Private Equity
- In the first quarter of 2024, the number of private investments totaled 103. A year ago, there were 147.
- The total amount of investments more than doubled—from $1 billion to $2.2 billion. However, the lion's share of the amount came from Disney's $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games. Without that deal, private equity would have fallen 30% year over year.
- Investors were less likely to invest late-stage money, preferring seed and pre-seed investments. They were also less likely to invest independently, shifting to co-financing.
- Since 2019, at least 45 game-focused funds have opened - twice as many as in the previous decade. Of those, 12 have emerged in 2024.
- In the first quarter, the most active seed round funds were 1Up Ventures, BITKRAFT Ventures, Transcend Fund, The Games Fund, and Ludus Ventures. The most active funds in Series A rounds were a16z, Lightspeed Venture, 1UP Ventures, Hiro Capital, and Sisu Game Ventures.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
- Compared to last year, the number of closed M&As fell from 42 to 23.
- The total value of closed M&As amounted to $2.2 billion. In 2023, much less was spent on M&A — $0.7 billion.
- According to analysts, gaming companies are not up to mergers now. Many large companies are busy restructuring and downsizing and actively buying back their shares. However, InvestGame predicts an increase in M&A among companies valued at less than $1 billion in 2024.
- The largest deal of the quarter was CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments' $1.1 billion purchase of Jagex.
Public offerings
- Gaming companies listed their securities six times during the quarter. A year ago, there were twice as many offerings - 12.
- The total valuation of the companies' public offerings was 0.5 billion, which is just 0.1 billion less than in the first quarter of 2023.
- The largest placements were the sale of Take-Two Interactive's bonds for $350 million and the issuance of new shares in Stillfront Group for SEK 1 billion ($93 million).
