The year promises to be record-breaking for the games market, which only in January saw two deals come close, together, to the record volume reached in 2021. The industry is expected to move US$ 150 billion in 2022.
The forecast is from investment bank Drake Star Partners, which released an updated global report on the sector.
As reported by Reuters, the volume projected for this year encompasses initial public offerings (IPOs), financing and mergers and acquisitions.
In the first half of 2022, Take-Two offered US$11 billion for game developer Zynga. A few days later, Microsoft made a US$68.7 billion bid for developer Acitivision Blizzard.
Together, the values approach the US$ 85 billion moved in 1,159 deals in the sector last year. The cash volume was almost three times greater than that recorded in 2020.
Among the most relevant deals, Drake Star Partners highlights the purchase of the KaBum! by Magazine Luiza, for R$ 3.5 billion (US$685). The acquisition was the fourth largest of the year related to eSports and platforms.
Last July, Magazine Luiza bought KaBuM! to follow a strategy to reach gamer and technology fans. The company also announced issuance of 150 million new shares. With the purchase of KaBuM!, Magalu reinforced the strategic pillar of new categories, with a complementary assortment to the current one and with enormous growth potential.
KaBuM! is one of the forerunners in electronic sports in Brazil. It created one of the biggest League of Legends teams in the country, KaBuM! Sports, four-time national champion and the first Brazilian representative in the world championship. The KaBuM! Esportes also supports other eSports modalities, such as Counter Strike, FIFA and Free Fire.
In 2020, with new consumption habits stimulated by the pandemic, its sales grew 128% compared to the previous year. With 2 million active customers, KaBuM! offers more than 20,000 items of cutting-edge technology for professionals and the gamer universe.
The company also deepens its position in the gamer market, which is growing exponentially worldwide and in Brazil - according to eSports consultancy BBL, there are 95 million gamers in the country. Data from consultancy Accenture show that the global games industry will reach R$ 300 billion by the end of 2021, revenue greater than that of the music and film sectors combined.
Golden year for the games market
According to a report by Drake Star Partners, mergers and acquisitions moved US$ 38 billion in 2021 and should continue to lead the business in the games industry.
In this sense, the bank highlights the strategies of players such as the Chinese giants Tencent and ByteDance (owner of TikTok), Sony and EA (owner of the FIFA franchise).
In addition, another segment within the sector that is rapidly growing is the NFTs (non-fungible token), a product considered a crypto asset (understand what they are and how to invest).
According to the bank, companies specializing in NFT and using blockchain technology in the gaming universe raised US$ 3.6 billion in the last year.
Some relevant investors in the non-fungible token niche were Animoca, a16z, Coatue and Softbank.
Download the report here: Global Gaming Report 2021
Source: GMB / O Especialista
