What are the biggest gaming M&A deals recently?
The biggest gaming deal of the past two years is the $55B take-private of Electronic Arts by a PIF-led consortium962 — the largest leveraged buyout ever. It made 2025 a record year: $161B in disclosed gaming M&A across 759 deals12. The pace held into 2026, when Q1 reached "a 15-month high with 51 deals and over $100B in disclosed value"1.
The largest gaming acquisitions since 2025
| # | Target | Buyer | Value | Announced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electronic Arts | PIF, Silver Lake & Affinity Partners | $55B | Sep 20251662 |
| 2 | Moonton (Mobile Legends) | Savvy Games Group | $6B | Q1 2026155 |
| 3 | Niantic's games business (Pokémon GO) | Scopely (Savvy Games Group) | $3.5B | Q1 2025812 |
| 4 | Loom Games (Pixel Flow), majority stake | Scopely | valued at $1B+ | Feb 2026111 |
| 5 | AppLovin's games business | Tripledot | $800M (first reported at $900M) | Q1 2025812 |
| 6 | ADK | KRAFTON | $516M | Q2 202563 |
| 7 | JustPlay, 70% stake | NCSOFT | $202M | Q1 2026155 |
| 8 | Mattel163, NetEase's 50% | Mattel | $159M | Q1 202655 |
| 9 | Bluetile Games, 50% stake | Nazara | $100.3M | Q1 202655 |
Saudi capital is behind four of the five largest: PIF led the EA buyout62, and the PIF-backed Savvy Games Group13 bought Moonton, while Savvy's Scopely took Niantic's games and a majority of Loom Games1855.
“2025 was a landmark year for gaming M&A with two mega deals: the $55B leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts (EA) by a consortium led by PIF and the Netflix's $82.7B announced acquisition of Warner Bros., including Warner Bros. Games!”
12Drake Star Partners · p. 3
The media deals that include a games business
Warner Bros. Discovery — and with it Warner Bros. Games — drew the largest bids of all:
- Netflix agreed to acquire Warner Bros. at an enterprise value of $82.7B in December 20251665.
- Paramount–Skydance answered with a hostile $108.4B bid for all of Warner Bros. Discovery1265.
- In Q1 2026 Warner Bros. Discovery agreed to Paramount's offer at an enterprise value of $110B, after Netflix declined to raise its own55.
These are media conglomerates in which games are one division, which is why they are listed apart from the games companies above.
Deal activity, quarter by quarter
Mobile led the activity1, while the value sits in a few large publishers: Aream & Co. report that "content-focused M&A hits highest level since the pandemic boom"4 and that "deal value remains concentrated in scaled, IP-rich publishers"58.
2024's notable deals
- Easybrain sold to Miniclip for $1.2B222.
- Jagex sold to CVC Capital Partners and Haveli for $1.1B (Feb 2024)2257.
- SuperPlay sold to Playtika: $700M in Aream & Co.'s table of the largest acquisitions of the last twelve months2, $2B in its 2024 review22.
- Plarium acquired by MTG for $620M2 — printed as "$620bn" in Aream & Co.'s 2024 review22.
For scale: the largest deals before 2025
Activision Blizzard remains the largest console and PC deal on record — "more than 2x the combined total of all Console/PC M&A values from 2010-2022"21 — and Moonton has now changed hands twice, at $4.0B in 2021 and $6B in 2026355.
Values are disclosed deal or enterprise values as reported by Drake Star Partners, Aream & Co. and InvestGame; their scopes differ (all gaming deals, or control deals above a valuation threshold).
p. 3Global Gaming Report Q1 2026
Drake Star Partners · p. 3
Q1'26 gaming M&A hit a 15-month high with 51 deals and over $100B in disclosed value. Mobile led the activity, while the total valuation was driven by Paramount's massive Warner Bros. Discovery deal, including Warner Bros. Games, and Savvy Games' $6B acquisition of Moonton.
p. 18Video Game Market Update: Q3 2025
Aream & Co · p. 18
Largest gaming acquisitions of the last twelve months ... TARGET BANDAI NAMCO GAMES ... APPLOVIN ... SuperPlay ... NIANTIC ... MINICLIP ... Playtika ... 55.0bn 464m 800m 3.5bn n/a 620m 1.2bn 700m 2.7bn
p. 28Q1 2024 Gaming Deals Report
InvestGame · p. 28
Largest Mobile M&A Deals Since 2020 (in $B) ... Jan'22 zynga 2 TA K E $12.7B INTERACTIVE ... Apr'23 SCOPELY SAVVY $4.9B GAMES GROUP ... Mar'21 MOONTON NUVERSE $4.0B ... Aug'21 SpinXGames netmarble $2.2B ... Apr'21 EA Electronic Arts $2.1B
p. 21Video Game Market Update: Q1 2026
Aream & Co · p. 21
> **[Chart page]** This page contains visual data — view in PDF for the best experience. DEALS OF # LARGEST DEAL Content -focused M&A hits highest level since the pandemic boom Control sale transactions across game developers & publishers GAMING CONTENT CONTROL M&A DEALS (UPFRONT VALUATION >$100M 1) BY CLOSING DATE PRE-PANDEMIC PANDEMIC BOOST POST-PANDEMIC 18 16 16 14 12 11 11 10 9 9 8 86 6 4 4 5 5 5 4 2 2 2 3 ANNOUNCED 2 0 1 3 H1-18 H2-18 H1-19 H2-19 H1-20 H2-20 …
p. 3Global Gaming Report: Q1 2025
Drake Star Partners · p. 3
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.
p. 3Global Gaming Report Q3 2025
Drake Star Partners · p. 3
EA's announced $55 B buyout by the Saudi Arabia's PIF / Silver Lake consortium, the largest leveraged buyout in history, made Q3 '25 a landmark quarter for gaming M&A. ... Overall gaming M&A activity increased to 50 deals in Q3 '25 , the highest count in four quarters!
p. 30Türkiye's Mobile Gaming Landscape 2026
AppMagic · p. 30
On June 1, 2020, Peak Games was acquired by Zynga for 1.9B. This remains the largest exit in the history of the Turkish gaming ... Loom Games Scopely Feb 2026 valuation > $1B Majority stake
p. 3Global Gaming Report 2025
Drake Star Partners · p. 3
2025 was a landmark year for gaming M&A with two mega deals: the $55B leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts (EA) by a consortium led by PIF and the Netflix's $82.7B announced acquisition of Warner Bros., including Warner Bros. Games! In parallel, Paramount–Skydance launched a hostile $108.4B bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, underscoring the scale and intensity of consolidation across media and gaming.
p. 49State of Play: Winter 2024
Xsolla · p. 49
Savvy Games Group, a rising player backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, is one example, investing over $7.2 billion across 4 deals since January 2022, culminating in their $4.9 billion acquisition of mobile game developer Scopely in April 2023.
p. 10Sports Tech Market 2025
Drake Star Partners · p. 10
TOP 10 DISCLOSED M&A TRANSACTIONS 450 DEALS AND $156.0B IN DISCLOSED DEAL ACTIVITY ... WB $82,700.0 5.0x 23.3x NETFLIX Dec-25 ... EA Fantasy, Esports & $55,000.0 7.4x 29.7x SILVERLAKE Sep-25
p. 6Console/PC Games Investment Report September 2024
DDM · p. 6
Microsoft's $68.7B acquisition of console/MMO/mobile developer publisher Activision Blizzard, the largest Console/PC M&A in 2023 and in history
p. 13Gaming CEO Survey: 2024 in Review
Aream & Co · p. 13
17 GAMING TRANSACTIONS $5.8bn TRANSACTION VALUE ... Easybrain Sale to MINICLIP PLAY GAMES $1.2bn ... MTG Acquisition of PLARIUM $620bn ... SuperPlay Sale to Playtika $2bn ... JAGEX Sale to HAVELI
p. 4Global Gaming Report Q1 2026
Drake Star Partners · p. 4
Warner Bros. Discovery, including Warner Bros. Games, agreed to an acquisition by Paramount at an enterprise value of $110B after Netflix ... declined to raise its offer. ... Moonton, the developer of the hit mobile game Mobile Legends, was acquired by Savvy Games Group for $6B. ... Loom Games, the developer of the fast-growing mobile puzzle game Pixel Flow has been acquired in a majority deal by Scopely, a subsidiary of Savvy Games Group, at a valuation of over $1B.
p. 25Q1 2024 Gaming Deals Report
InvestGame · p. 25
Largest PC & Console M&A Deals Since 2020 (in $B) DATE TARGET ACQUIRER DEAL VALUE Oct'23 BLZZARD Microsoft $68.7B Mar'21 ZeniMax Microsoft $7.5B Jan'22 BUNGiE ONY $3.6B
p. 22Video Game Market Update: Q1 2026
Aream & Co · p. 22
($BN) VALUE DEAL UPFRONT LARGEST DEAL Deal value remains concentrated in scaled, IP -rich publishers Control sale transactions across game developers & publishers GAMING CONTENT CONTROL M&A DEALS (UPFRONT VALUATION >$100M 1) BY CLOSING DATE PRE-PANDEMIC PANDEMIC BOOST POST-PANDEMIC $74.3 14.0 $56.0 12.0 $17.6 ACTIVISION EA 10.0 $17.9 BUZZARD ANNOUNCED 8.0 7.2 7.6 6.04.0 2.0 2.2 5.0 4.1 2.8 3.5 $5.4 ANNOUNCED 2.0 0.4 0.7 $0.8 H1-18 H2-18 H1-19 H2-19 H1-20 H2-20 …
p. 4Global Gaming Report Q3 2025
Drake Star Partners · p. 4
EA, the American developer and publisher known for its sports game franchises, announced its acquisition by PlF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in the largest ever leveraged buyout for $55B.
p. 3Global Gaming Report Q2 2025
Drake Star · p. 3
Gaming M&A activity remained relatively stable in Q2'25, with 46 announced deals. The largest transaction was KRAFTON's $516M acquisition of ADK, a Japanese company specializing in advertising and animation with some mobile game development.
p. 12Global Gaming Report 2025
Drake Star Partners · p. 12
GAMING M&A TRANSACTIONS Q4 2025 43 ANNOUNCED DEALS AND $83B IN DISCLOSED DEAL VALUE ... Netflix entered into an agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to acquire Warner Bros., including its gaming division, at an enterprise value of 82.7B. This deal prompted a hostile takeover bid from Paramount for all of WBD at an enterprise value of $108.4B.
Have your own question about the games industry?
Ask the library — synthesized answers with citations from hundreds of industry reports.
Ask the library