Savvy Games Group, a Saudi Public Investment Fund-owned gaming and esports firm will buy Scopely for $4.9 billion. Scopely, founded in 2011, makes smartphone games such as Yahtzee With Buddies, Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Force, Stumble Guys, and Scrabble Go.
After financing $340 million in 2020, the Los Angeles-based business was valued at $3.3 billion. Scopely has grown through acquisitions. Scopely bought Disney’s FoxNext Games in 2020 and Sony Pictures Entertainment’s GSN Games in 2021 for $1 billion.
“Scopely is one of the fastest-growing gaming businesses today, and we have long admired their ability to establish devoted, engaged player communities,” stated Savvy Games Group CEO Brian Ward in a news statement. Savvy Games Group invites the brightest brains to invest in and build the global games community.
Scopely, ESL, and Faceit will be “independent entities” under Savvy. Walter Driver and Javier Ferreira will remain co-CEOs.
“As part of the Savvy Games Group portfolio, we will continue to grow one of the world’s most diverse mobile-first gaming companies,” stated Scopely co-CEO Javier Ferreira in a news announcement. Our technical platform, market-leading studio environment, and world-class workforce have always kept us ahead of the fast-evolving games industry, generating long-lasting franchises that please gamers worldwide. We’re excited to reimagine the play alongside Brian and Savvy.”
Savvy said the purchase, which requires regulatory approval, would boost its capacity to launch new gaming products worldwide. In addition, the business said the purchase would build on Scopely’s cross-platform strategy to expand its live services expertise to PC, console, and other markets.
Bloomberg reported this week that the Saudi Arabian government is committing $38 billion to become the next video-game hotspot, and Savvy aims to produce and purchase top-tier titles.
The transaction is the sixth most expensive video game purchase. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, which is still pending, is followed by Take-$12.7 Two’s billion purchase of Zynga, Tencent’s $8.6 billion purchase of Supercell, Microsoft’s $8.1 billion purchase of ZeniMax, Activision’s $5.9 billion purchase of King.
