The acquisition of Zynga, a specialist in mobile games, by the American video game publisher Take-Two was finalized on Monday, May 23. It is one of the most expensive acquisitions in the industry, at $12.7 billion. This represents new franchises in the company’s catalog and a prominent place in the mobile market.
Zynga, the second biggest acquisition in video games
Mentioned for the first time at the beginning of the year, the acquisition of Zynga by Take-Two had the effect of a bomb in the video game sector. The first is a specialist in mobile games with popular titles like FarmVille and Words With Friends. For its part, the publisher Take-Two has among the most lucrative franchises in video games, in particular Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption.
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With 12.7 billion dollars, it is the second largest acquisition in the video game industry, just after that of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft for 69 billion dollars, announced only a few days after that of Zynga.
The transaction is now complete. This means that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the American antitrust authority, validated after examination the most important financial operation of the video game for the moment. Indeed, the regulatory agency has yet to consider the takeover of Activision by the Redmond firm.
Mobile gaming from a position of strength
Take-Two hopes to take advantage of Zynga’s place in the mobile market to reach a new audience. This medium will generate the majority of video game revenues in 2022, at $103 billion. This would allow the American company to capture new players, especially in Asia where most games are played on smartphones.
Many industry players see the importance of mobile in diversifying their revenue streams and expanding the influence of their brands. With Activision, Microsoft could acquire the King studio behind the very popular candy Crush. Sony had also announced that it wanted to release its popular licenses, such as Unchartedin the form of rolling iterations.
Since the beginning of the year, industry players have multiplied acquisitions to consolidate their position, while others, such as Electronic Arts, are looking for buyers so as not to find themselves on the sidelines. The acquisition of Bungie, an American development studio, in early February by Sony for 3.6 billion dollars is also the subject of an examination by the FTC.