$1B+ in tools, AI and leadership shifts across the games industry last week
Gaming industry valuations & deals tracker – week recap, Dec 2nd week. 394#
Hey Friends, Greetings from Bangalore 💗
Here’s your curated look at last week’s top deals in gaming, Top Funding & M&A Headlines.
Funding & Investments
Qwacks (Saudi Arabia) secures $480k pre-seed from Merak Capital to build a unified creation + live ops platform for game studios in MENA and beyond.
Hypemasters (World War Armies) raises $1M, led by Impact46 with participation from GEM Capital, to expand its mid-core PvP strategy games across mobile and PC.
EasyWin closes its first seed round at a ~$15M valuation, backing a lean, AI-powered real-money skill gaming platform operating out of Poland with US exposure.
Abrakadabra Games receives a $2M investment from Link Bilgisayar to scale digital gaming, data analytics, player-behaviour modelling, and cloud gaming infrastructure.
Studios, Strategy & AI
Last Arrow Games is unveiled as a new studio within Pneuma Games Group, led by industry veterans Ron Ashtiani and Owen O’Brien, focused on “reigniting the joy of gaming” from its base in Gateshead.
StarBerry Games (Merge Mayor) goes all-in on AI, shifting to an AI-first production and ideation model as it looks to scale new experiences beyond its $20M-plus hit.
M&A & Strategic Moves
Tencent sells Battalion developer Bulkhead Interactive to a new consortium backed by Team17 owner Everplay Group alongside Super Media Group and Hiro Capital, continuing Tencent’s portfolio reshuffle.
Disney → OpenAI – Disney commits $1B into OpenAI over three years, licensing 200+ characters (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars) for use in Sora/ChatGPT video + image generation tools.
Leadership
Crytek appoints Hannes Seifert as co-CEO (effective Jan 1, 2026), with Seifert taking over game production & publishing while Avni Yerli focuses on strategy—backed by Hunt: Showdown’s growth and continued CryEngine development
Stay ahead. Curated weekly at iCartic.com
tCARe, CARtic P
My other post from last week → UA insights: tips to scale your installs in India