Saudi Arabia’s capture of Pokemon Go joins top 10 gaming acquisitions

Scopley, which was bought by Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games in 2023, is now buying Niantic and its hit game Pokemon Go

People play games on their phones at the opening of the Pokemon Go tour at New Taipei Metropolitan Park in February. AFP

Mobile gaming witnessed one of its biggest acquisition deals when Saudi Arabia’s Scopley announced this week that it was buying augmented reality gaming company Niantic for $3.5 billion. The deal includes ownership of successful titles Pokemon Go and Pikmin Bloom, as well as the use and sale of its innovative AR technology.

In addition to acquiring Niantic’s games, the deal includes the company’s non-gaming apps Campfire and Wayfarer. For Scopely and Saudi Arabia, Niantic represents the future of mobile gaming, one that relies on innovation and augmented reality. The deal is the 10th biggest acquisition in gaming history.

Here, we look at the other nine deals and assess how successful they were for the gaming industry.

9. Sony acquires Bungie, 2022

Halo Infinite is one of the many successful games made by Bungie. Xbox

The studio behind the Halo franchise and Destiny was bought by Sony Interactive Entertainment for $3.7 billion in 2022. After being acquired by Microsoft in 2000, Bungie had become independent again in 2007. Despite Bungie now being owned by Sony, Microsoft still holds the exclusive rights to the Halo games series.

Plan: Sony would help Bungie to hire and retain developers to expand the Destiny franchise, Bungie would help Sony make more live-service games.

Result: The acquisition has not gone completely to plan. Bungie, which had hoped it would not lose any of its 1,600 employees, now has a workforce half that size, with 750 employees. The Destiny franchise has also waned in popularity and relevance.

8. ByteDance acquires Moonton, 2021

Chinese tech giant ByteDance, owner of TikTok and CapCut, purchased gaming developer Moonton in 2021 for $4 billion. Founded in 2014, the Chinese mobile game developer has produced titles such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Watcher of Realms.

Plan: ByteDance grows its mobile gaming investments.

Result: Moonton’s acquisition was first considered by Tencent, but it was beaten by ByteDance. Moonton has only grown since the acquisition. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, its most successful game, is popular around the world and is part of prestigious tournaments, including the Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia.

7. Savvy Games Group acquires Scopely, 2023

A subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Savvy Games Group acquired Scopely in 2023 for $4.9 billion. The developer of Monopoly Go, Star Trek Field Command and WWE Champions is one of the biggest developers in mobile gaming.

Plan: Expand the kingdom’s gaming investment portfolio.

Result: Scopely, with the support of Savvy, has grown and produces more games than it did before the acquisition. Because of this, it was able to purchase Niantic and potentially corner the market for augmented-reality innovation in mobile gaming.

6. Activision Blizzard acquires King, 2016

The Swedish studio behind the global phenomenon mobile game Candy Crush was acquired by Activision Blizzard in 2016 for $5.9 billion. King has been a dominant presence in mobile gaming with its many spin-offs of Candy Crush, as well as branching out with titles such as Farm Heroes Super Saga.

Plan: Expand Activision Blizzard’s user count and acquire King’s more than 500 million users.

Result: While Activision Blizzard has made use of the deal, King has contracted and shut some of its global offices, laying off employees.

5. Microsoft acquires ZeniMax Media, 2021

The holding company that owns gaming studios Bethesda, id Software, Arkane studios and MachineGames was acquired by Microsoft in 2021 for $8.1 billion. ZeniMax Media owns prestigious gaming titles such as Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Dishonored and Wolfenstein.

Plan: Expand Xbox’s library and give the console more first-day exclusives.

Result: Xbox has benefited from some exclusivity on these games, but it has become clear that it would benefit more from sharing these titles with Sony and reaping the sales rewards.

4. Tencent acquires Supercell, 2016

Finnish studio Supercell, developer of Clash of Clans, sold a controlling stake of 81 per cent to China’s Tencent in 2016 for $8.6 billion. The developer also produced popular titles such as Clash Royale, Brawl Stars and Squad Busters.

Plan: Invest in Clash of Clans while growing Tencent’s gaming portfolio.

Result: Clash of Clans remains one of the most profitable mobile games, making more than $1 billion in yearly revenue. It is one of the few mobile games to have surpassed 500 million downloads on iOS and Android.

3. Take-Two Interactive acquires Zynga, 2022

The developer behind Facebook game Farmville and mobile game Words with Friends was acquired by Take-Two Interactive, the owner of Grand Theft Auto’s Rockstar, for $12.7 billion in 2022. Zynga has also produced titles such as Cafe World, Looney Tunes Dash and Game of Thrones Legends.

Plan: Portfolio expansion deal for profit.

Result: Take-Two’s acquisition of Zynga is primarily to grow the company’s mobile game output. According to Take-Two, approximately 10 per cent of the world’s population play a Zynga game, showing just how spread out and successful the company is.

2. Activision acquires Vivendi Games, 2008

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is the latest game in the popular series. Photo: Activision

The holding company that owned Sierra Entertainment, Universal Interactive and Blizzard Entertainment, Vivendi Games, was acquired by Activision in 2008 for $18.9 billion, approximately $27.6 billion adjusted for inflation.

Plan: Activision takes ownership of multiple successful game series, including Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.

Result: Activision has since become Activision Blizzard, under which global hits such as the Call of Duty, Warcraft and Crash Bandicoot are housed. The company took in more than $7 billion in revenue in 2022, making it one of the most profitable.

1. Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard, 2023

In 2023, after clearing many hurdles, Activision Blizzard was sold to Microsoft for $75.4 billion, making it the biggest video game company acquisition. Much like it did with ZeniMax in 2021, Microsoft expanded its portfolio for the Xbox with the purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Plan: Create compelling exclusive games for the Xbox while sharing other games with Sony

Result: As video game titles become harder to create, successful ones become a valuable commodity for consoles to own. Sony has titles such as The Last of Us, Uncharted and Ghost of Tsushima. Xbox will seek to create a new line-up with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.