德雷克星全球游戏报告2025

LOS ANGELES | SAN FRANCISCO | NEW YORK | LONDON |PARIS | MUNICH | BERLIN | DUBAI PROVEN TRACK RECORD IN GAMING M&A AND GROWTH FINANCING ADVISORY RECORD YEAR FOR GAMING M&A 2025Summary •2025 was a landmark year for gaming M&A with two mega deals: the $55B leveraged buyout of Electronic Arts (EA)by a consortium led by PIF and the Netflix’s $82.7B announced acquisition of Warner Bros., including Warner Bros.Games! In parallel, Paramount–Skydance launched a hostile $108.4B bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, underscoring 759Deals (Announced) •Other notable M&A deals included the $3.5B acquisition of Niantic’s gaming business by Savvy /Scopelyand the$800M sale ofApplovin’sgaming division toTripledot. Netflix also acquired the avatar tech company Ready PlayerMe in Q4’25 (Drake Star was the exclusive financial adviser on the deal). •Private financings were led by mobile and AI. Major mobile deals included CVC/Blackstone’s $2.5B investment inDream Games, alongside raises byLingokids($120M), Good Job Games ($60M), and Million Victories ($40M). Onthe AI side, companies building AI world models with the potential to transform how games are made raised largerounds, including Luma AI ($900M), Runway ($308M), General Intuition ($134M), andDecart($100M). •Overall financing activity bottomed out in Q2’25 at 105 rounds, then rebounded strongly in the second half of theyear, rising to 118 rounds in Q3 and 137 rounds in Q4. •Most active investors in 2025 included Play Ventures, BITKRAFT, and Griffin Gaming Partners among larger funds,while Impact46, Merak Capital, and TIRTA were the leading seed-stage investors. On the strategic side, Tencent,KRAFTON, andSmilegatedrove the most activity, whileAnimoca,ArbitrumGaming Ventures, and Spartan were •The most notable public deals included Embracer’s spin-outs of Asmodee and Coffee Stain, and Ubisoft’s $1.25Braise from Tencent. Take-Two completed a $1.19B equity offering, and GameStop raised $3.75B in debt. •The Drake Star Gaming Index, which tracks the top 35 global gaming companies on an equal-weighted basis, rose12% for the year, driven by strong performances from Unity (up 92%), NEXON (up $63%) andNetease(up 57%). Q4’25 Summary •Q4 saw two gaming-related M&A announcements from streaming giant Netflix: Warner Bros. and Ready Player Me(Drake Star was advisor), marking a notable shift given Netflix’s relatively limited M&A activity in recent years. Othersignificant transactions included Kakao Games’ $150M divestment of its golf simulation subsidiary,NCSoft’s$104Macquisition of mobile developerIndygoGroup, SUD’s $72M purchase of game engine company COCOS, and •Q4 saw strong growth in private company financings, with 136 rounds. Highlights included Luma AI’s $900M SeriesC, General Intuition’s $135M seed, and multiple $30M rounds fromCloudX, Cypher Games, andTaleMonster •In public markets, Embracer spun off Coffee Stain, Asmodee announced a $371M debt raise, and Kakao Gamesannounced a $78M capital increase. 2025 WAS A LANDMARK YEAR IN GAMINGM&A GAMING M&A TRANSACTIONS: 2025 TOP 10 ANNOUNCED DEALS GAMING M&A TRANSACTIONS: 2025 189 DEALS ANNOUNCED AND $144B IN DISCLOSED DEAL ACTIVITY TOP 15 PRIVATE PLACEMENTS GAMING PRIVATE PLACEMENTS: 2025 509 DEALS AND $6.2B IN DISCLOSED PRIVATE PLACEMENTS NEW GAMING-FOCUSED FUNDS ANNOUNCED IN 2025 $1.5B+ OF CAPITAL RAISED FOR NEW FUNDS GAMING M&A TRANSACTIONS Q4 2025 43 DEALS AND $83B IN ANNOUNCED DEALS GAMING M&A TRANSACTIONS Q4 2025 43 ANNOUNCED DEALS AND $83B IN DISCLOSED DEAL VALUE IVG •Netflix entered into an agreement with Warner Bros.Discovery to acquire Warner Bros., including itsgaming division, at an enterprise value of $82.7B.This deal prompted a hostile takeover bid from •Netflix acquired Ready Player Me, a leading digitalavatar technology company backed by prominentinvestors, including Andreessen Horowitz andKonvoyVentures. Drake Star advised Ready Player •Kakao Games sold its golf simulation subsidiaryKakao VX to IVG for $149.5M. •The sale took place after Kakao Games acquired aminority stake in Kakao VX held by a financialinvestor to gain full ownership of the subsidiary.Proceeds from the sale will help Kakao Games Paramount forall ofWBD at an enterprise value of$108.4B. •Netflix will leverage Ready Player Me’sdevelopment tools and infrastructure to powercross-game avatars, enabling players to carry their IndygoGroup Singapore •Nintendo agreed to acquire Bandai Namco StudiosSingapore from Bandai Namco.•Bandai Namco Studios Singapore helped in thedevelopment of past Nintendo games, such asSplatoon 3. The studio will be renamed Nintendo •SUD, a provider of distribution and developmenttools for mini-games, purchased the COCOS, a •NCSoft acquired 67% of the mobile gamingcompanyIndygo, which owns the Vietnamese casual game developerLihuhu, for $103.8M.•The move is part ofNCSoft’sstrategy to expand itspresence in casual mobile games. Earlier this year, •The acquisition expands SUD’s offerings and allowsfo