Second Dinner
CompanyUnited States · Founded 2018
Documents about Second Dinner
Monthly Games Industry Report: January 2024
The Monthly Games Industry Report for January 2024 is a roundup of game industry news organized into sections on games and apps, acquisitions, mergers and investments, market research, articles and interviews, and collaborations.
- Second Dinner, the developer behind Marvel Snap, acquired a $100 million Series B investment led by Griffin Gaming Partners.
- The report states that RPG and strategy games are remarkably good at maintaining mobile game loyalty, which it describes as challenging to obtain and maintain.
- Citing the SuperScale white paper, the report states that 83% of mobile games die within 3 years and 43% are killed in development.
2023 Game Development Report: Griffin Gaming Partners
Griffin Gaming Partners' 2023 Game Development Report examines the technology and practices behind game development.
- Studios report rising development costs, with 77% saying the cost of game development is continuing to rise.
- 95% of studios are either working on or intend to release a live services title.
- 65% of all studios now prefer to buy rather than build their game technology.
Gaming Report: VC Trends and Emerging Opportunities
Gaming venture capital activity contracted again in Q3 2023, with 113 deals totaling roughly $857 million.
- Gaming venture capital investment fell to $857 million across 113 deals in Q3 2023, marking a 35.3% quarterly decline in value and a 67.5% drop year-over-year.
- Despite recent volatility, the market is stabilizing at a new baseline, with total quarterly investment consistently ranging between $800 million and $1.1 billion over the last year.
- Content-focused gaming companies remain the primary investment drivers, securing $514.2 million in Q3 2023, more than double the funding allocated to the development segment.
Global Gaming Report Q3 2023
Q3 2023 saw a recovery in gaming dealmaking after an extended lull, with major strategic acquirers returning to consolidation.
- The global gaming industry saw a significant resurgence in consolidation during Q3 2023, with 120 deals totaling $11 billion in value, headlined by the Microsoft-Activision merger.
- M&A activity was concentrated in PC and console segments at 40% of deal volume, while mobile accounted for 21%.
- Tencent emerged as the most active strategic buyer with five deals, including the majority acquisition of Techland, while Goldman Sachs made a $1.72 billion offer for Kahoot!.
Gaming Deals Report: 2023 Q3
Gaming dealmaking in the first three quarters of 2023 fell to its lowest level since the pandemic period, as higher interest rates, weak exit conditions and macro volatility cut activity across private investment, M&A and public offerings.
- Gaming deal activity in the first three quarters of 2023 hit its lowest level since the pre-pandemic era, with private investment value falling to $2.3 billion across 325 deals.
- M&A activity totaled $8.5 billion, excluding the Activision Blizzard acquisition, while public offerings saw a 29% year-over-year decline due to a closed IPO window.
- Late-stage venture capital funding plummeted to $300 million as investors shifted focus from growth-at-all-costs to companies with proven financials and clear exit paths.
Game Development Report 2023
Published by Rendered Venture Capital and Griffin Gaming Partners in 2023, this report examines the technology and practices behind game development, while noting that gameplay, community and IP also govern a game's success.
- 77% of studios reported that the cost of game development is continuing to rise, a trend the report places at the start of its market dynamics findings.
- 65% of developers reported iterative build times of 10 minutes or more, which the report says prevents efficient development processes.
- 68% of producers believe their pre-launch production pipelines are not suitable for live services.
The Alumni Effect: Studios Founded by Ex-Activision, Blizzard, and King Employees
The analysis examines the "alumni effect" within the gaming industry, specifically focusing on studios founded by former employees of Activision, Blizzard, and King (collectively, ex-ATVI).
- Between 2020 and 2024, 30 studios founded by former Activision Blizzard employees secured approximately $0.7 billion in venture capital across 45 funding rounds.
- Ex-Activision studios demonstrate a 'first-round momentum' effect, being roughly four times more likely than peer startups to secure a second round of financing within the same calendar year.
- Investor confidence in alumni teams peaked in 2021, when 43% of ex-Activision studios raised a subsequent round compared to only 9% of broader gaming startups.
