TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Virtuos acquires CounterPunch Studios; Mogul raises AUD$8m (£4.4m); and Unity Ads joins AppLovin and IronSource in gaming ads triopoly. Virtuos acquires CounterPunch Studios Singaporean developer Virtuos has acquired Los Angeles-based animation services provider CounterPunch Studios for an undisclosed sum. The acquired production studio is best known for its work on franchises including The Last of Us, Mortal Kombat, and Call of Duty, and will continue to operate as [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Kahoot raises USD$215m (£165m); Unity launches Game Growth Program; and Vungle acquires AlgoLift. Kahoot! raises USD$215m Oslo-based educational gaming company Kahoot! has announced that it has raised NOK1.978bn (USD$215.1m/£165.4m) via a private placement of 43 million shares to SoftBank Group Corp. The investment will be used by the Norwegian firm to continue development on its proprietary platform, as well as supporting its inorganic growth strategy through acquisitions. In [...]

In a demonstration of video gaming’s growing influence in other sectors, gamified fitness brands have featured prominently in investment headlines recently, perhaps most notably in the the USD$450m (£345m) funding round closed by Zwift in September. Subsequently, after several years in development, gamified combat sports brand JABII launched a crowdfunding campaign via the Indiegogo platform on Tuesday 13th October. In this exclusive interview, TheGamingEconomy speaks to JABII Group Founder and CEO Christian Thostrup (pictured below) on how the Copenhagen-based start-up is [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Huya and DouYu to merge; Take-Two Interactive acquires Ruffian Games; and misleading Playrix adverts banned in the UK. Huya and DouYu to merge Chinese video game streaming firms Huya Inc. and DouYu International Holdings Ltd. have announced that they are set to merge in a stock-for-stock transaction, creating a combined entity valued at approximately USD$11bn (£8.4bn). Tencent Holdings Ltd., which currently owns stakes of 50.1% and 38% in [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: “Significant” ramifications warned from Epic vs Apple case; Dapper Labs raises USD$18m (£13.8m); and Talon Esports secures USD$2m (£1.5m) seed funding. “Significant” ramifications warned from Epic vs Apple case US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has granted an injunction against Apple in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games, ruling the tech giant cannot remove access to Unreal Engine developer tools, while also rejecting Epic Games’ demands to [...]

Highlights – Total investment and M&A activity across the video games industry tracked by the TGE Index in July-September 2020 surpassed USD$17.54bn, representing an increase of 77.3% over the previous quarter. – Following a slow start to the period, investment activity proliferated through August and September. The USD$11.77bn worth of tracked funding in September alone outmatched the total transaction value recorded for the entirety of the last quarter (USD$9.883bn), supported largely by Microsoft’s USD$7.5bn acquisition of ZeniMax. – Both non-public investment and M&A [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: ReKTGlobal raises USD$35m (£27m); GameStop partners with Microsoft; and GameSquare goes public. ReKTGlobal raises USD$35m (£27m) New York-based esports holding company ReKTGlobal has announced that it has raised USD$35m (£27m) in debt capital funding from Summit Partners. The investment will be used for recruiting purposes across the firm, including the appointment of new C-suite executives, sales personnel, and players for its Rogue and London Royal Ravens teams. Moreover, [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: MY.GAMES acquires Deus Craft; Embracer Group raises SEK5.78bn (£502m); and TGS Esports acquires Volcanic Media. MY.GAMES acquires Deus Craft Mail.ru Group has announced the acquisition of a controlling stake of 51.16% in Moscow-based mobile developer Deus Craft for an upfront sum of USD$14.1m through its MY.GAMES subsidiary, plus an additional earn-out consideration of a maximum USD$35m payable by April 2021, subject to the fulfilment of performance targets. The [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: US House criticises app store dominance; G-Loot raises SEK500m (£43.3m); and Activision Blizzard withdraws from France. US House criticises app store dominance The US House of Representatives antitrust committee has filed a 449-page report criticising the four big tech companies, namely Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon, following an investigation into their alleged monopolistic practices. Most preeminent for the video games industry is the House findings on Apple [...]

TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the prevalent business stories in gaming. In today’s news: Thunderful Group acquires Coatsink Software; AppLovin planning 2021 IPO; and Rovio CEO Kati Levoranta to depart firm. Thunderful Group acquires Coatsink Software Swedish video game holding company Thunderful Group AB has announced the acquisition of Sunderland-based indie developer-publisher Coatsink Software for an upfront consideration of £23m, paid equally in cash and newly issued share capital, plus a maximum earn-out consideration of £42.5m payable on the fulfilment of financial [...]