Mehmet Dumanoğlu, General Manager of Oyunfor.com, which continues to rise in game and in-game purchases and is on its way to becoming a global brand, shared his comments on the corporate acquisitions that have taken place this year and in the recent past, that made a big impression on the industry.

What major acquisitions has the gaming world experienced in the recent past? Can you share with us?

It is possible to say that 2014 was the breakthrough year, especially for major purchases. Since 2014, big companies have aggressively recruited the producers of the games that shine and make a name for themselves in the gaming world. One of the main examples of this is Microsoft’s acquisition of Mojang, the maker of Minecraft, which has sold more than 200 million copies, for $2.5 billion. With this acquisition, Microsoft has strengthened its position in the game industry.

Also in 2014, Facebook, now known as “Meta,” acquired Oculus, the popular “virtual reality” brand of the time. Meta’s motivation for making this purchase is to make progress towards using virtual reality in social media, rather than having a say in the game industry; moreover, it had to bring about a revolution.

As we approach today, what major names would have played a role in major purchases?

The first thing that comes to mind when it comes to “current acquisitions” has to be Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. This is Microsoft, a very well known publisher, as well as; It means adding major developers like Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Raven Software, King, Toys for Bob and of course Blizzard Entertainment. Microsoft’s goal to become an ambitious name in the gaming industry -as I mentioned above- first emerged with the purchase of Mojang in 2014 and then Zenimax Media in 2020. Famous company; It also acquired Bethesda Softworks, the producer and publisher of major games such as The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Dishonored, and Wolfenstein.

After Microsoft, Sony made a big breakthrough in 2022 and bought Bungie. Bungie, which has operated under the Microsoft umbrella in the past, today continues to operate in a different structure under the Sony umbrella, with permission to publish its own games.

Another interesting acquisition this year was made by Take-Two Interactive; The company secured a solid foothold in the mobile gaming world by acquiring Zynga, a company that was almost impossible to buy, in June.

Prior to these massive acquisitions, Tencent’s 2016 acquisition of Finnish game publisher Supercell for $8.6 billion was cited as the largest acquisition in the game world.

Are big names always involved in gaming purchases?

Not really. The industry has reached such a point in terms of volume that there are many large and small game companies as well as giant names and purchases are continuing at full speed. More than 40 companies were acquired from June to mid-September. For example, Quantic Dream, the maker of games such as Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human, has been acquired by the Chinese technology company NetEase. Or, for example, Tripwire Interactive, made famous by Killing Floor, has joined Saber Interactive.

Well, what can you say about the purchases in Turkey?

With the growth of the gaming industry in Turkey every year, there have been purchases that are almost as remarkable as the purchases on a global scale. The biggest example of this is Zynga’s purchase of Peak Games for $1.8 billion in 2020. As early as 2017, Zynga acquired Mobile Card Studio, a division of Peak Games, for $100 million.

The acquisition of Gram Games by Zynga and Masomo by the Chinese tech giant Tencent in 2018 brought much more attention to Turkish game companies worldwide.

We can add a few more recent acquisitions to this list: Rollic Games was acquired by Zynga for about $170 million and Dream Games by Index Ventures & Makers Fund for $155 million.

If you pay close attention, you will see that all major purchases in our country are made specifically for mobile games. In this sense, we can say that mobile games and mobile gaming are the strongholds of Turkey. As the mobile game industry is a growing sub-segment around the world, I can say that our growing strength in this area holds great hope for the future of the industry. On the other hand, since the industry has a very dynamic structure by nature, I think making some breakthroughs outside the above segment can yield positive results.

What do all these purchases mean for the game world?

In fact, there is no clear answer to this; We can say that the story of every purchase is different. For example, Microsoft’s acquisition of Zenimax Media is a move that directly impacts the Xbox ecosystem. In this way, Microsoft can increase Game Pass membership and thus revenue by putting Bethesda’s famous games first on Xbox; can add to his power.

It would be incorrect to say that these acquisitions, aimed at increasing profit margins and strengthening the industry, have completely changed the order of the companies bought. In fact, we don’t see many changes on the side that reflects on us. On the other hand, if a large company cannot get the revenue it wants from a small company roasted in its own fat – under normal circumstances – a studio that can go on with its life can be closed. As I mentioned, every purchase has a different dynamic in it.

Source: (BYZHA) – Beyaz News Agency