Savvy Video games Group, a video games and esports firm that’s a part of the Saudi authorities’s Public Funding Fund, has agreed to amass cell video games studio Scopely for $4.9 billion. Based in 2011, Scopely is understood for a number of widespread cell video games together with Yahtzee With Buddies, Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Power, Stumble Guys and Scrabble Go.
The Los-Angeles primarily based firm had a $3.3 billion post-money valuation in 2020 after elevating a $340 million funding spherical. Scopely has grown over the previous few years with numerous notable acquisitions. In 2020, Scopely acquired Disney’s FoxNext Video games, and in 2021, the corporate acquired Sony Footage Leisure’s GSN Video games For $1 billion.
“Scopely is among the fastest-growing video games corporations at the moment, and we’ve lengthy admired their skill to construct loyal, engaged participant communities,” mentioned Savvy Video games Group CEO Brian Ward in a press launch. “At Savvy Video games Group, our mission is to spend money on – and develop – the worldwide video games neighborhood by inviting the most effective minds to hitch us.”
Scopely will function as a “autonomous firm” below the Savvy umbrella, which incorporates esports corporations ESL and Faceit. The corporate will continued to be led by co-CEOs Walter Driver and Javier Ferreira.
“As a part of the Savvy Video games Group portfolio, we’ll proceed to construct one of many world’s most diversified mobile-first video games corporations,” mentioned Scopely co-CEO Javier Ferreira in a press launch. Our know-how platform, market-leading studio ecosystem, and world-class group have all the time enabled us to remain one step forward of the quickly rising video games trade, delivering long-lasting franchises that delight gamers all over the world. We sit up for reimagining the way forward for play with Brian and the Savvy group.”
Savvy says the acquisition, which is topic to regulatory approval, will strengthen its skill to ship new merchandise for the worldwide gaming neighborhood. The corporate additionally says the acquisition may even construct on Scopely’s cross-platform method to increase its stay companies experience to new segments like PC, console and extra.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that the Saudi Arabian authorities is betting $38 billion to grow to be the subsequent hub for the video-game trade, and that Savvy is trying to develop and purchase top-tier video games.
The deal marks the sixth largest acquisition in video video games historical past by way of worth. The highest place on this class goes to Microsoft shopping for Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in a deal that’s nonetheless within the strategy of being accomplished, adopted by Take-Two buying Zynga for $12.7 billion, Tencent shopping for Supercell for $8.6 billion, Microsoft buying ZeniMax for $8.1 billion and Activision shopping for King for $5.9 billion.
