As we exit 2022’s record deal-year in the video game industry, and slowly creep up to the anniversary of the Microsoft/Activision-Blizzard deal announcement, it’s time to look forward into what may happen with M&A in 2023. Will deal-making remain hot… or not?
We’ll get to the answer in just a moment.
First, Global Top Round (GTR), an interactive video game accelerator program supporting small development studios, globally, just selected 10 of the “most promising” studios to be inducted into its game accelerator program.
The winning studios, and their games, are:
- Mastodonte – Beat the Clock
- Studio Chahut – Dog in the Machine
- CinderCat Games – Glum
- Melbot Studios – GodsTV
- Studio 85 – Magicards: The Elemental Kingdoms
- BLACKBOX Studios – Mecha Attack
- Enchanted Works – Nomori
- Digital Devotion Games – Project Tumble
- Sager Entertainment Group LLC – Spectrum: Tactical Stealth Action
- Pentakill Studios – The Occultist
According to GTR, the winning studios will be awarded a venture capital fund which starts at $40k. However, each studio also has the opportunity to “win” an additional funding round of $60k, for a potential total investment of $100,000.
Pontus Mahler, VP of Business Development at GTR said of the winners, “This year’s studios really blew us away with their game-changing projects. We’re optimistic each of these titles have the chance to succeed and land major deals to help them scale their business.”
Shortly after the winners were announced, GTR made another big announcement, and it bodes quite well for deals in 2023.
Global Top Round will be launching a new M&A department!
GTR’s new mergers and acquisitions investment banking branch will handle deals between $10 million and $250 million, the sweet spot for up-and-coming studios, publishers, and developers.
The new banking wing will be led by Jacques Benchetrit, who before joining GTR was responsible for M&A at Zordix, a video game development and publishing group based in Sweden.
“At our core, we are bankers who game. We appreciate gaming as an art form and want to protect industry artists and entrepreneurs from signing bad deals. We’re going to change the way deals are done in gaming, ensure both sellers and buyers achieve their goals, and help push the industry forward,” said Benchetrit.
So…
The deal flow outlook for 2023 is bright. While another mega deal like the Microsoft/Activision-Blizzard may be unlikely next year, for investors in the space, it may be worth looking into video game companies that are valued in the $10 million to $250 million area, as there could be a flurry of deals in that end of the market.
You can read more about GTR’s launch of its new M&A department, HERE
Or discover a video game company with patented, in-game eCommerce technology, HERE