Investment

• Team17 sees revenues climb 97%; BAFTA drops mobile category in game awards restructuring

  7 days ago News

  

  TheGamingEconomy Daily Digest brings you the trending business stories in gaming. In today’s edition: Team17’s 97% revenue growth; BAFTA restructures game awards; Google Stadia VP talks cross-progression and free trials; app games for crivers outfit Drivetime secures USD$11m (£8.9m) investment. Team17 eyes acquisitions as revenues climb 97% through FH2019 As its 29th anniversary nears, UK developer and publisher Team17 has reported a 97% uptake in revenues for the first half of 2019. As detailed in a report by GamesIndustry.biz, the revenues for [...]

• Annapurna Interactive Parent Clears Over USD$200m (£165.2m) In Debt; ISFE Launches Esports Division

  2 weeks ago News

  

  TheGamingEconomy Daily Digest brings you the trending business stories in gaming. In today’s edition: Annapurna Interactive parent clears over USD$200m (£165.2m) in debt; ISFE launches esports division; and Playful raises USD$23m (£19m) in Series A funding. Annapurna Interactive parent clears over USD$200m (£165.2m) in debt Annapurna Pictures, the parent company of the Annapurna Interactive studio, has reportedly resolved over USD$200m (£165.2m) in debt, with an official announcement expected later this week. The debt will be cleared by an existing line of credit [...]

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• Knock Knock Knocks on the Door of the Post-App Store Opportunity

  3 weeks ago News

  

  Instant gaming outfit Knock Knock has secured USD$4m (£3.3m) in a Series A funding round led by March Capital Partners. It’s another encouraging story of success in the casual games sector, but there’s something more fascinating beyond the investment itself. Knock Knock is focused on instant games for messenger platforms, having so far launched two titles for the Facebook Instant Games platform. It’s relatively early days for the 2018-founded company, but those two games have enjoyed five million organic and viral installs. [...]

• Hyper-Casual Esports Platform Ready Raises USD$5m (£4.1m)

  3 weeks ago News

  

  BITKRAFT Esports Ventures has spearheaded a USD$5m (£4.1m) Series A funding round in competitive hyper-casual platform Ready. By any technical definition, Ready is an esports offering. At its most fundamental, it lets players do battle in multiplayer games for cash prizes. It’s key differentiation from conventional esports models comes from its hyper-casual leaning. Esports are typically the preserve of the most hardcore, devoted player demographics there are. Professional esports players have strict training regimes, coaches and even sports psychologists to optimise their [...]

• Nintendo profits fall due to ‘foreign exchange losses’; Electronic Arts results exceed projections

  2 months ago News

  

  TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s results special: Nintendo profits fall due to ‘foreign exchange losses’; Electronic Arts results exceed projections; and Sega Sammy Holdings operating income increases by 246.6%. Nintendo profits fall due to ‘foreign exchange losses’ Profits at Nintendo during the first quarter of the financial year have fallen by 45.7% year-on-year to JP¥16.6bn (£125.6m), primarily attributed to ‘foreign exchange losses’ of JP¥12bn (£90.8m). However, strong hardware and software sales, which increased by 13.2% [...]

• SkyWeaver dev Horizon Blockchain Games secures USD$3.74m (£2.97m) seed round

  2 months ago News

  

  Canadian game dev and blockchain infrastructure outfit Horizon Blockchain Games has completed a USD$3.75m (£2.97m) seed round. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s venture fund Initialized Capital led the round, which was also supported by Golden Ventures, Polychain, Coinbase, Digital Currency Group and Inovia Capital. The seed round is likely to be a significant boon to bringing Horizon’s game SkyWeaver to market, and to the further development of the company’s blockchain video game network Arcadeum, which is pitched as a ‘crypto arcade’. Backing by [...]

• Ubisoft Surpasses Q1 2019-2020 Targets; Nintendo Announces Update to Switch

  2 months ago News

  

  TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s news: Ubisoft surpasses Q1 2019-2020 targets; Nintendo announces update to Switch; and DouYu goes public with USD$775m (£624m) Nasdaq IPO. Ubisoft surpasses Q1 2019-2020 targets Despite not releasing a major new title within the first quarter of the 2019-2020 fiscal year, Ubisoft has smashed its projection for the period, earning USD$352.8 (£314.5m). This likely reflects the fact that players are perhaps staying with games longer thanks to a range of [...]

• As Pixion secures USD$2m in seed funding, has there been a better time to be in mobile esports?

  2 months ago News

  

  London-based studio Pixion Games has revealed that it has secured USD$2m (£1.6m) in seed funding to further its efforts developing mobile titles specifically geared towards esports. Private investment firm Eldridge Industries led the round, with contributions from Jabre Capital Family Office and three angel investors. As well as being used to develop the studio’s games, the funds will also be used to scale the team, which presently boasts talent formerly serving at King, Curve, Hutch and Konami. So far that reads like [...]

• Private Equity Firm Blackstone Buys Vungle; Tencent Launches Streaming App for WeGame

  2 months ago News

  

  TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s news: Private equity firm Blackstone buys Vungle; Tencent launches streaming app for WeGame; and Baidu renews partnership with Snap. Private equity firm Blackstone buys Vungle Private equity firm Blackstone has announced it is purchasing performance marketing platform Vungle, which serves in-app video ads with publishers including Rovio and Zynga. While the exact terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed, sources have informed Techcrunch that the all-cash payment is [...]

• Facebook reportedly pursuing high-profile IP exclusives and acquisitions to bolster Oculus VR gaming

  2 months ago News

  

  Facebook is reportedly pursuing acquisitions and exclusivity deals in an effort to supply its VR hardware with big name, triple-A productions. That is according to The Information, which cites two insider sources with knowledge on the matter. One of those sources reported that deals have already been signed around Ubisoft game series like Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell. The idea appears to be to bolster the fortunes and longevity of Facebook’s Oculus VR hardware range through high-profile titles. Meanwhile, the [...]