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EA buys developers of DiRT 5 for $ 1.2 billion
Electronic Arts officiallyacquired thestudio Codemasters and took over the rights to DiRT, F1 and other racing simulators. The deal was worth $ 1.2 billion, but this is far from the largest purchase in the industry. It is about the most impressive deals of game devs that we will tell in this article.
Microsoft buys Bethesda for $ 7.5 billion
On September 21, 2020, Microsoft announced the purchase of ZeniMax, the owner of Bethesda, for an incredible $ 7.5 billion. The investment is definitely worth it, because Phil Spencer received the rights to such franchises as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Dishonored, Doom, Wolfenstein and many others. Perhaps at that moment even the most dedicated Sony fans were thinking about purchasing an Xbox. But the war of consoles was just gaining momentum.
It is already known that Microsoft will not violate the already established agreements of developers with Sony, and such titles as GhostWire: Tokyo will also be available on PlayStation. However, future Bethesda games will obviously be Xbox console exclusives. So if you want to play the ones to comeFallout 5 orThe Elder Scrolls 6 , then get ready to buy a PC or Series X / S ... if you can.
Tencent buys Supercell for $ 8.6 billion
If you thought Microsoft and ZeniMax was the biggest deal in the gaming industry, you must be ignorant of the profitability of the mobile market. But the Chinese investment company Tencent drew attention to the success of Supercell and its hits:Clash of Clans ,Clash Royale andBrawl Stars . As you know, shareware projects are much more expensive for players than AAA, so successful games do not leave the top-grossing applications of the App Store and Google Play.
$ 8.6 billion - this is not even the price of the entire company, but a share of 84%. The rest of the shares remain in the hands of Supercell employees. This is how the profits of casual mobile phones are much ahead of the console and computer counterparts: puzzling users by pumping fences turns out to be much more profitable than directing Blaskowitz's battles with the Nazis.
Zynga bought Peak Games for $ 1.85 billion
The purchase of another representative of the mobile market is again associated with an astronomical amount. The American company Zynga is engaged in games for social networks, and mobile hits by the Turkish Peak Games,Toon Blast and Toy Blast were clearly to her liking. For two years, colorful puzzles have been included in the TOP-20 of the most popular applications for the iPhone in the United States, and the revenue of each of the games for all time exceeds $ 600 million.
Interestingly, only half of the amount Peak Games will receive in real money, the rest will be paid in Zynga shares. It is assumed that the results of the transaction will not be long in coming. Bloomberg writes that the deal will increase the daily audience of Zynga games by 60%, and revenue from Toon Blast and Toy Blast should raise the main company's revenue for the second half of the year by $ 300 million.
Embracer Group buys Gearbox for $ 1.3 billion
Most recently, the Embracer Group was referred to as THQ Nordic AB. In 2019, the company changed its name, and then began buying up gaming companies: Saber Interactive was bought for $ 150 million (plus $ 375 million if certain financial goals were achieved), and more recently Gearbox was also bought for $ 1.3 billion.
Let's not forget that in addition to this, Embracer Group announced the purchase of Aspyr Media and Easybrain Limited studios. The first one is engaged in porting games and cost the buyer $ 100 million with a possible bonus of $ 350 million.The second one works in the lucrative mobile market and paid $ 640 million for it. It seems that the Embracer Group is going to grab a solid piece of the gaming market, and gamers can only waitBiomutant and new partMetro that will come out from under their wing.
EA buys Codemasters for $ 1.2 billion
EA was not the only one claiming to buy the developer of popular races, but it was her proposal that had nothing to oppose even the solid Take-Two. The American corporation, with varying success, "pleases" gamers with the Need for Speed ​​and Burnout series, and now there is a solid replenishment in the cohort of races. From now on, EA owns GRID, Colin McRae Rally and F1 World Rally Championship.
In general, the deal was known a few months ago, but the agreement was officially reached only on February 18. EA CEO Andrew Wilson in a statement called the Codemasters purchase "the beginning of a new era for racing games." We can only hope that the popular series will not repeat the fate of, for example, the projects of Visceral Games.
EA bought Respawn for $ 455 million
Electronic Arts has partnered with Respawn since before it took over the developers. It was in the collaboration of the two companies that two parts of Titanfall were published, and the interaction cannot be called successful.Titanfall 2 was a great game with an interesting storyline and bouncy multiplayer. However, its release took place a week beforeCall of Duty: Infinite Warfare and a week afterBattlefield 1 . Squeezed in the pincers of competitors, the project turned into a commercial failure.
However, in the future, things have improved Respawn. FirstApex pulled millions of players into its networks, and thenStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is pretty decent. Maybe not every interaction with EA is doomed to fail?
Microsoft bought Rare for $ 375 million
Only the aksakals remember this deal. Microsoft made such an expensive acquisition back in 2002. At that time, the amount seemed simply astronomical. But can this deal be called successful? Great question. Rare has released a lot of games, but there are not enough really high-profile titles among them. The only thing worth mentioning is a good shooterPerfect Dark Zero , fighting gameKiller Instinct and life simulatorViva Pinata .
The release took place in 2018 Sea of ​​Thieves , which looked interesting, but was crushed for a disastrous amount of content. And feed gamers with nostalgia in the remakeBattletoads didn't work out.
Sony bought Insomniac Games for $ 229 million
Insomniac Games has partnered with Sony since the very first game. In 1996, a shooter was released on PlayStation OneDisruptor , and the Spyro series continued the tradition. The company's games rarely looked at PC and Xbox, and in August 2019 the developer was bought by Sony for $ 229 million.
Compared to others, the price of the deal looks rather modest. However, Sony is unlikely to regret buying at least once. All the sameMarvel's Spider-Man has become one of the most successful PlayStation exclusives, and a spin-offSpider-Man: Miles Morales came to the liking of gamers. The sequel cannot be avoided, which means that money will flow like a river again.
Tencent bought Riot Games. The amount of the deal was not disclosed
If the purchase of the leading mobile developer Supercell cost the Chinese company $ 8.6 billion, then how much did the authors cost League of Legends , one of the most popular games of our time? Only interested parties have the answer to this question, but the bill is likely to go back to billions.
Tencent first acquired a stake in the company back in 2011, but then investors began to systematically increase their influence over the American developer. By 2015, the Chinese had a full block of shares in their hands. Tencent tried to do something similar with Ubisoft, but the developers were able to fight back and maintain independence .
Square Enix bought Eidos. The amount of the deal was not disclosed
Square Enix has earned a star on the Walk of Fame with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy alone (which were born before Square and Enix merged). In 2009, the company acquired Eidos and expanded its arsenal of high-profile titles Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief and Hitman. Were the owners able to dispose of such wealth wisely? Not really.
The new trilogy about Lara Croft's adventures turned out to be good, but fans were definitely expecting more. Thief was released in 2014, and nothing has been heard of a sequel. Both Deus Ex were great, but the sequel was postponed for the long-suffering Marvel's Avengers . The Hitman series became independent at all ... Square Enix is ​​a very strange company that alternates between success and failure. However, I would like to wish her success, after all, a new Final Fantasy in development.
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Big deals are not uncommon in the gaming industry. Surely in this article, we left out some impressive contracts. If you think about them, be sure to write in the comments!
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