Games industry M&A hit 15-month high in Q1 2026 with over $100bn in deal value
- Scopely paid over $1bn for a majority stake in Loom Games.
- AR and XR hardware dominated private financing.
- GTA 6’s November 2026 launch is expected to boost gaming equity sentiment.
- AI, UGC, and AR are flagged as the top investment themes for the rest of 2026.
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Games industry M&A hit a 15-month high in Q1 2026 with 51 deals and over $100 billion in disclosed value, driven by Savvy Games’ $6bn acquisition of Moonton.
That’s according to Drake Star’s Global Gaming Report Q1 2026, which found that overall deal value was driven primarily by Paramount’s deal involving Warner Bros. Discovery and its games division.
Other notable acquisitions included Scopely’s majority stake in Loom Games at over $1bn and NCSoft’s $202 million purchase of JustPlay. Nazara also acquired a controlling stake in Bluetile Games, while Mattel bought out NetEase’s share in Mattel163.
Moreover, the report showed that private financing saw 106 deals totalling $785m with AR and XR hardware leading activity. RayNeo raised $143m followed by Xreal and Viture, each securing $100m. Other notable rounds include Ares Interactive at $70m and VAST at $50m.
Positive M&A outlook
The report also found that public market activity was anchored by major refinancings from Light & Wonder and Playtika, while Hasbro and LY Corporation expanded their gaming investments.
Looking ahead, the outlook for games M&A in 2026 remains strong, with mid-market deal flow expected to stay active alongside select large-scale transactions.
The report flags GTA 6, now targeted for November 19th 2026, as a potential catalyst for gaming equity sentiment. AI, UGC, and AR are expected to lead investment themes while Discord and PlaySimple are eyeing potential IPOs.
You can access the full report here.
