In 2021, the gaming industry conducted transactions worth $85.4 billion — 2.5 times more than a year ago

The volume of transactions in the video game industry continues to grow. Investment banking firm Drake Star Partners estimated that in 2021, gaming companies conducted public offerings, investments and M&A transactions worth $85.4 billion. This is 154%* more than in the previous year.

* According to InvestGame, in 2020, the volume of transactions in the gaming industry amounted to $33.6 billion.

The main thing from the report

• In total, 1,159 transactions related to video games were carried out in 2021. For comparison, only 664 transactions were conducted in 2020.
• Three quarters of all transactions (718 transactions) are investments. In total, investors have invested $13.1 billion in gaming companies.
• In second place in terms of the frequency of transactions were M & A agreements – 299 transactions worth $ 37.8 billion. Market exits close the top three — 142 operations worth $ 34.5 billion.As for platforms, in 2021, the majority of mergers and acquisitions were in the PC and console segment — 107 transactions ($13.9 billion).

• About a quarter of all M&A agreements related to mobile – 77 transactions ($15.5 billion). Also, 56 transactions worth $ 0.5 billion were related to esports.

• The largest M&A deal announced in 2021 was the purchase of the Chinese mobile studio Moonton by ByteDance ($4 billion). Also in the top 5 mergers and acquisitions included deals between Embracer Group and Asmodee ($3.1 billion), Netmarble and SpinX Games ($2.19 billion), Electronic Arts and Glu Mobile ($2.1 billion), ByteDance and Pico ($1.5 billion).

• In 2021, blockchain and NFT gaming companies raised $3.6 billion from investors. The largest deals in this segment are Forte ($725 million), Sorare ($680 million) and Dapper Labs Series ($305 million).

• The most active investors in the gaming industry included Bitkraft, Galaxy Interactive, Makers Fund, Play Ventures and a16z.