With over $4.4 billion in disclosed value over 48 deals, gaming M&A hit its highest quarterly deal value in nearly two years and saw a strong recovery from the dip seen in Q4 2024. Public markets showed signs of recovery with the Drake Star Gaming Index growing 16.4% since the end of 2023, followed by a correction and quick recovery in early April as the global tariffs and trade war situation unfolded.

The Drake Star Global Gaming Report Q1 2025 analyzes Gaming and Esports dealmaking in the first quarter of 2025 and outlines what to expect for the rest of 2025 and beyond.

Download the full report for all the insights and details on key M&A and deal activity below. Highlights include: 

• Gaming M&A activity rebounded in Q1 2025, with 48 announced deals totaling $4.4 billion in disclosed value. This marks the highest quarterly deal value in nearly two years and a strong recovery from the dip seen in Q4 2024.
• Scopely’s $3.5B acquisition of Niantic’s games division was the largest gaming deal of Q1 and the biggest since Scopely itself was acquired by Savvy for $4.9B in 2023. Other notable mobile M&A activity this quarter included Tripledot’s reported $900M acquisition of AppLovin’s games division, Miniclip’s acquisition of German mobile studio Lessmore, and Krafton’s purchase of Nautilus Mobile.
• Q1 saw 149 private placements totaling $3.5B in disclosed deal value. The largest was a reported $3B investment received by Infinite Reality at a valuation exceeding $12B. Other notable financings included rounds for Turkish mobile developers Grand Games and Good Job Games. As part of the Scopely transaction, Niantic Spatial secured $50M, while mobile adtech firm Bigabig raised $25M from MobilityWare, and AI game developer BeyondOS closed a $20M round. Later stage financings for gaming studios continues to be challenging.
• New gaming funds announced in Q1’25 included Tilting Point’s UA fund ($150M), Arcadia Gaming Advisors ($100M), Skillz ($75M) and Laton Ventures ($50M).
• The most active investors over the past year included BITKRAFT, Play Ventures, and Andreessen for larger funds and TIRTA, The Games Fund, and GEM Capital at the seed stage. Krafton, Tencent, and Samsung led strategic activity, while Animoca, Spartan, and Big Brain were the most active in blockchain gaming. Top acquirers included Savvy/Scopely, Tencent, Playtika, Tripledot, Infinite Reality, and MTG.
• Asmodee had a successful IPO post-Embracer spin-off, while Ubisoft raised $1.25B from Tencent following speculations of a full sale. AMD, GameStop, and Logitech announced major debt deals.
• The Drake Star Gaming Index rose 16.4% since the end of 2023. SEA/Garena, DeNA, and Konami were the top performers, while Ubisoft, Unity, and WeMade lost most in value.
  
  

Outlook

• We anticipate a gradual uptick in M&A activity over the rest of the year. Key buyers to watch include Savvy / Scopely, Tencent, KRAFTON, Keywords Studios / EQT, Jagex / CVC, Infinite Reality, Sony and Asmodee.
• Private equity firms are expected to remain very active, with several publicly traded gaming companies potentially being taken private.
• Key growth segments are expected to include AI, tech platforms, and blockchain. Later stage financings will likely continue to be challenging.
• If public markets stabilize, Coffee Stain is expected to go public soon as part of a spin-out from Embracer. Other gaming companies, including Discord, are also reportedly preparing for IPOs.

Download the full report for all the insights, stats, charts, top investors, key deals, and outlook for what’s next below.