TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Sumo Group acquires Pipeworks; CD Projekt Red imposes mandatory crunch; and Guild Esports raises £18.75m. Sumo Group acquires Pipeworks UK video game holding company Sumo Group has announced the full acquisition of Oregon-based studio Pipeworks (Lake Street Labs Buyer Corp.) for a maximum consideration of USD$99.5m (£77.4m), consisting of an initial payment of USD$59.5m (£46.3m) in cash and newly issued share capital, followed by an earn-out consideration of [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Tencent gaming draws US scrutiny; Stillfront acquires Nanobit; and Bunch raises USD$20m (£15.4m). Tencent gaming draws US scrutiny The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has sent formal enquiries to US-based video game companies in which Tencent Holdings Ltd. holds a minority or majority stake, including Epic Games and Riot Games, over their data security practices. Tencent has over 300 investments across its portfolio, including [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Epic Games raises USD$1.78bn (£1.35bn); Trump signs executive order against Tencent; and Enthusiast Gaming acquires Omnia Media. Epic Games raises USD$1.78bn (£1.35bn) Epic Games has announced that it has raised USD$1.78bn (£1.35bn) of primary capital and secondary purchases from a host of investors, including Baillie Gifford; BlackRock; Lightspeed Venture Partners; T. Rowe Price Associates; and returning partners KKR and Smash Ventures. The North Carolina-based firm has confirmed that [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Nazara buys majority stake in Paper Boat Apps; tinyBuild acqui-hires Hello Neighbor team; and Carbonated raises USD$8.5m (£6.8m). Nazara buys majority stake in Paper Boat Apps Mobile games company Nazara Technologies has completed the purchase of a 51% stake in educational game developer Paper Boat Apps, best known for its Kiddopia title, for a total consideration of INR₹830m (£8.80m). Nazara completed the purchase of its fellow Mumbai-based developer [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Paradox Interactive acquires Playrion; Sony mulling offer for Leyou; and Tencent launches second US studio. Paradox Interactive acquires Playrion Stockholm-based developer-publisher Paradox Interactive has announced that it has acquired mobile studio Playrion for an undisclosed sum. Operating out of Paris, the acquired developer is best known for its Airlines Manager title, which has a player base of over 10 million since its release in 2014. Playrion becomes the [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: US suspends H-1B visas; Phoenixx partners with Bandai Namco and Dentsu; and Treehouse Games raises USD$2.6m (£2.1m). US suspends H-1B visas United States President Donald Trump has signed an executive order suspending H-1B skilled worker visas, along with a range of other temporary visas including work-based exchange programmes, which took effect as of yesterday (24th June 2020) and will apply until the close of 2020. The restrictions [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: DoubleDown Interactive in USD$100m (£79.8m) IPO; Nexon to invest USD$1.5bn (£1.2bn) in global entertainment companies; and Giants Gaming acquires x6tence. DoubleDown Interactive in USD$100m (£79.8m) IPO Social and casino developer-publisher DoubleDown Interactive has submitted filings with the SEC for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq stock exchange, with its shares to be traded under the symbol DDI. The Seattle, Washington-based firm intends to raise up to [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Zynga in talks to acquire Peak; NetEase to raise up to USD$3bn (£2.4bn); and Avalanche Studios Group to open new UK studio. Zynga in talks to acquire Peak Social game developer and services company Zynga is in advanced talks to acquire mobile games company Peak Games in a cash and shares deal which would value the latter at approximately USD$1.8bn (£1.5bn), according to a reports from Turkish media. [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: ValueAct gains USD$1.1bn (£891m) stake in Nintendo; US game sales up 35%; and Boost VC closes USD$40m (£32m) fund. US game sales up 35% US consumer spend across video game hardware, software, and accessories, increased by 35% during March 2020 when compared to last year, reaching USD$1.6bn (£1.3bn), according to estimates released by The NPD Group. Despite being the most lucrative March for the US video games industry [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: US gaming time up 45%; SteelSeries acquires A-Volute; and Torque Esports partners with Blake Broadcasting. US gaming time up 45% Time spent gaming in the United States has increased markedly during movement restrictions imposed as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the monthly Video Game Tracking survey by Nielsen Games suggesting an increase of 45%. Significant rises were observed in each of the other surveyed countries, [...]