Gaming mergers and acquisitions were down 3% to $11.5 billion in 2024, but fundraising doubled, according to a report by Quantum Tech Partners, an M&A advisory firm.
And when it comes to 2025, the winds are shifting in a generally favorable direction, said Alina Soltys, a partner at Quantum Tech Partners, in an interview with GamesBeat.
Gaming M&A was flat and carried forward mostly by some large deals, like EQT’s purchase of Keywords Studios for $2.8 billion and Playtika’s acquisition of SuperPlay for up to $1.95 billion. The totals for 2024 and 2023 translate to a couple of flat years after the burst during the pandemic in an era of zero percent interest rates that spurred deals.
M&A and fundraising are positive indicators for an industry’s growth, as they signify capital flowing into the industry and veterans cashing out. But it’s not always “good news.”
It’s a case where the financial winds of the industry didn’t blow in the same direction as employment trends. Deal activity in fundraising was up, for instance, but layoffs during 2024 topped 15,000. In total, an estimated 34,000 jobs were lost in the past 2.5 years, and only this month is hiring starting to match the rate of layoffs, said Amir Satvat, game job resource champion, this week. In short, while 2024 was a terrible year for job losses and studio closures, it was a better year than the one before for investments.
After a huge year in 2022, gaming M&A has had a couple of flat years.
“We are expecting subtle growth in 2025 and there’s a couple of factors there. I think the factors are, the balance sheets across the board are so much healthier. There’s a lot of cash both from focusing on the right projects, downsizing teams, and divesting things that probably didn’t make sense in the first place,” Soltys said.
The companies holding cash have scale and revenue, and they are likely to look to acquire. Quantum Tech Partners is one of multiple companies reporting financial results for 2024 in games, and the data doesn’t always line up as different firms count deals in di …