Digi-Capital has just published its Global Games Investment Review 2012, and the free Executive Summary is available here. The complete 102 page review and individual sector reviews (mobile/tablet, social/casual, MMO, console, middleware and advertising) are available here.
Online/mobile games are forecast to grow the total video games software market in the 2015 financial year to $82 billion and take 50 per cent revenue share at $41 billion (14% CAGR 11F-15F). The acceleration in games investment and M&A also looks set to continue, driven both by underlying growth and fragmentation. However we see the big story as Social Games 1.0 M&A in 2012 - exit or consolidate (or you might miss the boat).
Games investment and M&A more than doubled in 2011
Games private placements grew value by 96 per cent to $2 billion, volume by 67 per cent to 152 transactions, and average fundraising round size by 17 per cent to $13 million. Together with Zynga ($1bn+) and Nexon ($1.2bn) IPOs, games investment value nearly quadrupled in 2011. Games M&A grew value by 160 per cent to $3.4bn, volume by 88 per cent to 113 transactions, and average transaction size by 38 per cent to $30.4 million.
