M&A and Investment

VG Insights announced on LinkedIn that the new installment of Mafia sold that many copies.

Generation Media has taken over the creative agency, Portal Studio.

Duolingo, the language learning application, has acquired NextBeat, the developer behind Beatstar and a music gaming startup. This acquisition aims to ensure Duolingo's music course becomes "as fun and joyful as the best mobile games in the market."

The details of the deal have not been disclosed—neither the amount nor the terms are known.

Itch.io has started the process of "re-indexing" its free adult content and intends to slowly reintroduce paid content. This initiative aims to ensure the platform can "confidently support the widest range of creators in the long term"

At the beginning of the month, the retail network "M.Video-Eldorado" reported on console sales in Russia for January-March 2025. A few weeks later, it summarized the results for the entire first half of the year.

Ludus: Merge Arena is a mobile PvP strategy game developed by the studio Top App Games, which is part of the Utmost Games holding. Recently, its audience reached a significant milestone of 7 million users

Playrix has entered into an agreement with the Chinese publisher iDreamSky. Through its subsidiary, PLR Worldwide Sales Limited, it acquired 38.08 million shares of the publisher for 39 million Hong Kong dollars (4.97 million US dollars)

A recent report forecasts a downturn for the East Asia video game market in 2025, driven by global challenges impacting Japan and South Korea.

GungHo Online, the publisher and developer of Puzzle & Dragons, is evaluating a proposal from shareholders to remove Kazuki Morishita from his roles as CEO and president.

There is a new addition to the KRAFTON family of subsidiary companies. The studio Eleventh Hour Games, which developed the action role-playing game Last Epoch, has joined them.

Appcharge, a direct-to-consumer payment platform catering to mobile game publishers, has conducted an analysis on $500 million worth of web store transactions. The study highlights a diverse range of payment preferences across different countries

The KRAFTON family of subsidiary companies has grown. It has been joined by the studio Eleventh Hour Games, the developer of the action RPG Last Epoch.

The Sony Corporation has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Bandai Namco Holdings. Under this deal, it will acquire 16 million shares of the holding company, paying 68 billion yen ($464.5 million) for them.

The mobile hit MONOPOLY GO! is bringing more and more money to Hasbro, the company that owns the IP rights. In a recent financial report, Hasbro revealed that royalties from the game amounted to $83 million for the period from January to June 2025

The owner of itch.io, Leaf Corcoran, announced that the store is forced to "deindex" all NSFW content. Adult games will now temporarily not appear in search results due to the actions of activists from Collective Shout.

A recent report indicates that the UK Games Fund (UKGF) is projected to produce productivity benefits valued between £30 million and £58 million ($40.6 million to $78.5 million) for the UK economy

Sony Corporation has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Bandai Namco Holdings. As part of the deal, it will acquire 16 million shares of the holding company, paying 68 billion yen (464.5 million dollars) for them

Gaijin Entertainment's portfolio now includes an unusual asset. The company has become the owner of the map The Pit in Fortnite after signing a "multimillion-dollar" deal with its creator known as Geerzy.

Roblox has introduced a new Learning Hub, allowing students to engage with numerous interactive educational experiences all in one location on the platform

In 2021, a group of American gamers sued Sony due to the inability to purchase digital versions of games for its consoles anywhere other than the PlayStation Store. They claimed the company created a monopoly which led to price increases. Recently, Sony attempted to reach a settlement with the plaintiffs, but the court did not approve it.

Everplay Group (formerly Team17 Group) has added to its portfolio. The company announced the acquisition of "all rights and assets" related to the Hammerwatch franchise from the Swedish indie studio Crackshell.

Red Dunes Games, a publisher and developer situated in the United Arab Emirates, has revealed a long-term partnership with Acquire Corp., the experienced Japanese studio known for series such as Tenchu and Way of the Samurai.

Developers from 11 bit studios announced that the space survival game The Alters, about a group of clones of one person surviving, sold 280,000 copies. It took the game just under a month to reach this milestone, as it was released on June 13

BetaDwarf, a studio located in Copenhagen, has received an investment from Square Enix.

Developers from Facepunch Studios announced that sales of the survival game Rust have exceeded 20 million copies. This is only on Steam. With other platforms taken into account, the number of copies sold should be even higher.

Currently, South Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance is the second-largest shareholder of the NXC holding, which manages the Nexon corporation. However, the situation may soon change. The ministry has decided to divest its stake and has initiated the stock trading process.

Hobby World's board game publishing portfolio now includes its first video game asset. The company has become the owner of LLC "Fogame"

Keleops, a digital publishing firm, has purchased Kotaku from G/O Media in an undisclosed all-cash transaction

Metacore Studio, known for the mobile puzzle game Merge Mansion, has reported its financial results for 2024. The company proudly announced that the team has, for the first time, turned a profit, with an annual profit of 18.7 million euros.

Last Thursday, June 26, the release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach took place. Kojima Productions has not yet shared any figures about the game, so the analytical service VG Insights did so instead

Publisher Hooded Horse and studio Sad Socket are pleased with the launch of the strategy roguelike 9 Kings, where players must build a kingdom. Within a month of early access, the game sold over 400,000 copies

The UK Government has introduced a new $40.5 million (£30 million) fund and committed to expanding the UK Games Fund to bolster the development of video games in Britain.

Sensor Tower continues to expand its portfolio. It announced the acquisition of Playliner, a mobile analytics service focused on LiveOps.

Recently, the studios Aggro Crab and Landfall — creators of Another Crab’s Treasure and Content Warning — released a cooperative game called PEAK on Steam, where players need to conquer mountains. The new release had a successful start, selling 100,000 copies on its first day.

During the week from June 10 to June 17, Counter-Strike 2 continued to lead the overall top-grossing product chart on Steam. Meanwhile, in the chart exclusively for paid projects, Stellar Blade claimed the top spot, displacing Dune: Awakening.

Over the past two months, the Singaporean fund 3D Investment Partners has been actively purchasing shares of Square Enix. Recently, it increased its stake in the Japanese company to 10.01%, making it the second-largest shareholder

Bigger Games, a mobile development company, announced the successful acquisition of $25 million in its Series A funding round, with Goodwater Capital taking the lead.

The South Korean studio Shift Up is pleased with the release of Stellar Blade on PC. The game reached Steam and the Epic Games Store on June 12 and sold over a million copies within the first three days.

In Japan, hardware sales for the Nintendo Switch 2 have nearly hit the one million mark, marking the largest console launch in the country's history.

The trade association TIGA has reacted to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer's spending review, describing the government's pledge to boost funding for the creative sectors as "encouraging."

Very soon — June 19-20 — the WN Conference will take place in Istanbul. We're sharing the event program. Among other things, there will be a panel on developers transitioning from creating hyper-casual games to projects for Steam

SAG-AFTRA has come to a provisional agreement with a negotiating group that comprises several of the industry's top studios and publishers

A recent report from Ampere Analysis forecasts that more than 13 million players will buy a Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025

In July of last year, the studio Arrowhead sold 15.75% of its shares to Tencent, according to Di Digital. The publication claims that the deal valued the market worth of the creators of Helldivers 2 at 5.1 billion Swedish kronor, or 533 million dollars at the current exchange rate

The number of copies sold of Elden Ring Nightreign has exceeded 3.5 million, reports FromSoftware. The game reached this milestone four days after its release, which took place on May 30

The editorial team at App2Top discussed what indie means, how many game developers there are in Russia, and what their main problem is with the co-founder of the marketing agency FatPony, the head of publishing at Indie GO Fund, and the author of the Telegram channel "Tired Publishing," Danila Kamenev

Publisher Koei Tecmo and developer Team Ninja have announced that the total sales of the Nioh series have exceeded 8 million copies sold. How the sales are distributed between the first Nioh and its sequel has not been specified

Apple has purchased RAC7, the developer of the game Sneaky Sasquatch.

For the first time in history, Apple Corporation has included a game studio. The Canadian RAC7, which consists of two people, was selected