Aream & Co reports that mergers and acquisitions in the gaming industry amounted to $57.8 billion in the third quarter, with Electronic Arts' $55 billion leveraged buyout being a major contributor

The third quarter witnessed stable activity in mergers and acquisitions within the gaming industry, with a total of 54 deals valued at $57.8 billion, as reported by investment bank Aream & Co.

Among these transactions was the completion of a significant leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts valued at $55 billion on August 5.

Aream & Co.'s Video Game Market Update indicated an increase in content-centric mergers and acquisitions, highlighting 18 transactions for developers and publishers each exceeding $100 million so far this year.

Activity was notably high in Asia, with key transactions such as Alibaba selling Lingxi Games to Trustar Capital for over $1.5 billion, Bang Jun-hyuk of Netmarble acquiring Tencent's stake for $270 million, and Sony Music Entertainment acquiring a $180 million minority interest in GungHo.

Public market revenues saw a substantial 122% rise compared to the previous year, reaching $1.3 billion across 13 deals in Q3 2026. Aream & Co highlighted forthcoming listings, with Catalyst's $200 million IPO announcement and the public listing plans of Fellowship.

Private investment revenue saw a year-on-year increase to $2.8 billion across 137 deals. Late-stage funding soared to $2.0 billion, the highest since Q4 2021, while seed funding declined to its lowest in five years as investments shifted towards Series A funding.

Consumer spending trends showed substantial growth in PC gaming, driven by co-op and indie games, including new title Wardogs, which earned $103 million in Q3 according to Alinea Analytics.

Following was Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynched at $55 million, with Dazed Games' How to Fish bringing in $11 million.

Mobile in-app purchases fell 7% year-on-year to $19.6 billion, attributed to a reduced install base, although Turkish and Asian publishers saw an increase in market share.

Console revenue experienced a 12% year-on-year drop to $14.1 billion, marking the largest decline in two years, affecting all three major platforms. Nintendo saw an 18% reduction, while Xbox and PlayStation were down 10% and 9%, respectively.

Circana noted a 15% drop in US hardware unit sales in August to 559,000, the lowest since August 2013.

FC27 topped console sales with 4.9 million units sold during the quarter, succeeded by NBA 2K27 at 2.4 million and Wolverine at 2.1 million.