Zordix: "Despite challenges and effort surrounding M&A, the risk still proves worth the reward"
Alex Calvin
Tuesday 14th June 2022
We are without a doubt in an era of consolidation within the games space, with the industry's leviathans snapping up some of the smaller fish left and right.
As Zordix CEO Christina Seelye says in her GI Live: Online session, there were 299 mergers and acquisitions deals in the games space in 2021, worth $85 billion in total. That was before a record $90 billion was spent on acquisitions and mergers in the sector alone in January 2022, mostly thanks to Microsoft and Take-Two's blockbuster purchases of Activision Blizzard and Zynga, respectively.
"These are wild times and the industry shows no sign of slowing down," she said. "We have entered a new era, requiring new ways of thinking and new ways of doing business. The numbers alone tell a very compelling story."
For some founders and leaders, M&A is part of their business plan, while others might fear what the impact of consolidation is on the games industry.
Seelye herself has been on both sides of the M&A process, having been through six deals. The company she founded, Maximum Games, made its fair share of acquisitions, such as the UK arm of publisher Avanquest, and developers Modus Studios and Mane6. Then in November 2021, her firm was bought by Zordix for $42 million, before Seelye was appointed CEO the following February.
Christina Seelye, Zordix
Having been through the M&A process, not only as the buyer but also the company being bought, Seelye has her fair share of lessons to share on the topic.The first was knowing when you are ready to be acquired and being able to brave the storms of change.
"There's no magic formula, of X years, Y employees and Z games," Seelye explains.
"Here's how we knew we were ready: We had years of
Read more on gamesindustry.biz
