According to a new report from investment firm Digi-Capital, game acquisitions and investments are rising in Asia. Global game acquisitions totalled US$3.3 billion through the third quarter of 2013, with the largest deals by Chinese, Japanese or Korean investors. Game investment worldwide also rose to US$876 million through the period, up 35 per cent year on year.
Mobile games in particular were 42 per cent of investment value and 38 per cent of investment volume, and also accounted for 47 per cent of M&A value and 29 per cent of M&A volume.
“If this trend continues through Q4, we could be looking at another record year for M&A in games,” said Digi-Capital’s MD Tim Merel. “Deep Asian relationships are now critical for investors in games companies considering exits.”
Global mobile app revenues are forecast to grow to US$70 billion in 2016 (2012: US$15 billion), and games currently account for circa 70 per cent of worldwide app revenues (2010: 40 per cent). China is expected to account for 32 per cent of online and mobile game revenues, with Korea at 12 per cent and Japan at 10 per cent.
“Many Asian companies are looking to invest in or acquire Western mobile games companies to leverage in domestic markets, or globalise themselves to publish Asian mobile games in Western markets,” Merel noted. “Relationships and market knowledge remain a challenge, particularly for those Asian companies looking for high-quality Western deal flow. As with other advanced trends from Asia, we anticipate similar moves by Western companies in the next 12 to 18 months.”
