33 gaming moves, $6.6B+ across 3 weeks
Moonton's $6B blockbuster, Saudi Arabia deepens Capcom, and indie funding keeps flowing. 413#
Hey Friends, Greetings from Bangalore 💗
Missed a couple of weeks — here's a packed 3-week roundup of everything that moved in gaming. Buckle up.
Funding & Investments
$4.5M → Antihero Studios raises seed round (a16z speedrun, Laton Ventures)
$4.5M → Cheer Games closes pre-seed led by Makers Fund
$4M → Vento Games closes seed round (Makers Fund, Arcadia Gaming Partners)
$2M → Minit Games raises to bring instant play gaming into the feed era
$23M → Sandbar secures Series A for AI note-taking ring
~$9.2M → Hyperloop Games (India) secures debt funding from Syndicate Finance
$400K → Afrime Studios raises to build Afrofuturistic RPG Unyverse
~$400K → Malmö backs new gaming startups annually
$1.5M valuation → Winter Wolves Studios secures investment in Türkiye’s first Roblox deal
NODWIN Gaming announces pre-IPO funding round
Quicksave Interactive secures investment from HyperScope Ventures
M&A
$6B → ByteDance sells Moonton to Savvy Games Group
$100M → Nazara acquires 50% controlling stake in Bluetile & BestPlay
$397M → Hasbro prices $400M public debt offering due 2031
€65M → Betsson acquires Rhino Entertainment Group’s Canadian operations
NCsoft acquires 70% stake in mobile developer JustPlay
Saudi EGDC purchases 5% stake in Capcom — becomes one of the largest shareholders
Meta acquires AI agent social network Moltbook
Balor Games acquires Humble Games catalog — seeks new indie partners
Xsolla acquires Vietnam-based games publisher Wetaps Corporation
NetEase acquires 10% minority stake in Xinghan Mingkong
Shamrock Capital acquires gaming creative agency Mutiny from Trailer Park Group
Splash Damage acquires Croatia-based Gamepires from Jagex
Tencent plans to acquire a stake in Block Blast! developer Hungry Studio
Studios & Ecosystem
Shinji Mikami forms new AAA studio Unbound
Ex-APPS team members form new mobile studio Rayo Games
Boss Fight Entertainment founders relaunch studio as Bossfight
Supercent and Sumo Digital sign MOU to co-develop next-gen mobile titles
Apple cuts App Store fees in China after regulator talks
Nintendo sues the US government over illegal Trump tariffs — demands a refund
Google Play rolls out Game Trials for full paid games before purchase
Games with loot boxes to receive a minimum age rating of 16 across Europe
India’s Karnataka bans social media for children under 16
Stay ahead. Curated weekly at iCartic.com
tCARe, CARtic P
My other posts from last week:
» Benchmark Drop, IAP trends in HC puzzle
» Skip the sessions. Book the meetings