Why a declining economy could spur increased M&A activity in the mobile gaming industry
Ivy Liu
With a recession in the offing, the coming year is shaping up to be a difficult one for business across the gaming industry, including the mobile gaming sector. But while the recession brings challenges for mobile game developers, that doesn’t mean M&A activity in the space is going to slow down in 2023.
M&A has been a consistent source of growth for mobile gaming companies in recent years. Much of Zynga’s growth between 2016 and 2020 was a result of its ample acquisitions of other mobile game studios during the period, according to Chris Petrovic, who led M&A at the company at the time. In 2023, the M&A action has continued: Just last week, Playtika announced a nearly $738 million deal to acquire Rovio, the developer of popular mobile games such as “Angry Birds.”