Recent years have been dominated by mergers and acquisitions in the games industry, with the likes of Microsoft, Sony, EA, Take-Two Interactive, Embracer Group, and others having made a number of purchases to add to their internal portfolio of development studios. 2023 has, of course, seen some slowdown on that front, but with Microsoft’s massive $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard now finally having gone through after a drawn-out approval process, it seems like the next year will see increased activity once again.
That’s as per Michael Metzger, a partner at Drake Star, an investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions in tech industries. Speaking to Axios, Metzger recently said that it’s expected the “coming year” will see mergers and acquisitions in the games industry picking up pace once again.
“Based on our discussions with many of the top gaming companies in the last weeks, we expect the deal volume to increase steadily over the next year.”
Metzger expects the likes of Sony, Take-Two Interactive, and Tencent to be active buyers in 2024, while he also believes Embracer Group will be on the other end of the spectrum as it looks to divest some of its studios.
Embracer has, of course, had its fair share of recent financial issues, and if reports are to be believed, is looking for opportunities to sell off Borderlands studio Gearbox Entertainment.