MTG pulls the trigger on a Monumental Kongregate acquisition | Pocket Gamer.biz

Swedish entertainment company Modern Times Group has signed an agreement permitting its subsidiary studio Kongregate to be acquired by Monumental.

The latter, a US-based indie game developer and publisher, formed in 2020 and has already grown to operate a sizeable gaming portfolio including Mythgard, Crowfall and Storm Wars.

Kongregate’s portfolio, meanwhile, includes Toss the Turtle, Burrito Bison Revenge and Dino Storm, and with the two coming together, their catalogue will comprise of well over 40 games.

The power of combination

Through the acquisition, Monumental will fully integrate Kongregate into itself and CEO Monty Kerr will run operations of both studios, being well positioned to tap into the “extensive experience in traditional mobile gaming” these game devs possess.

“We are overjoyed to welcome Kongregate into the Monumental family. We can’t wait to see what comes next, and we’re incredibly excited to be part of Kongregate’s future,” he said.

While the cost of this acquisition is currently unknown, it is due to be revealed in Modern Times Group’s Q1 report this year. And even after the deal – almost seven years on from Modern Time Group’s own acquisition of Kongregate – the former owner will still have some connection to its future endeavours through fully diluted 30% shareholding in the joint entity.

Modern Times Group president and CEO Maria Redin added: “We are happy to have found the right home for the next chapter in Kongregate’s journey. Monumental has a strong track record of managing and growing games and we are convinced that combining the two portfolios is the right step forward. I wish the teams the best of luck as they now begin their journey together.”

Notably, the sale of Kongregate comes just after a weaker Q4 performance under the parent company, who, despite seeing a sales increase, attributed this to a different subsidiary: “The organic year over year sales increase in Q4 was driven by strong growth in PlaySimple, which more than offset lower revenues in Kongregate and Hutch year over year.”

Whether Kongregate’s blockchain and NFT ambitions – hot topics that have fallen in popularity in recent years – will continue or not, remains to be seen but the company has made noteworthy AI advances of late.