Report: 2022 Was The Second-Best Year Ever For Gaming Investment, Mergers, and Acquisitions, And 2023 Could Be Even Better

According to a report from video game agency Digital Development Management (DDM), the gaming industry saw investments, mergers, and acquisitions activity reach a valuation of $51.5 billion in 2022. That’s the second-best figure in the industry’s history, but a far cry from 2021’s $74.5 billion.

That’s a steep drop. Is the industry okay? Despite the significant difference year-on-year, the DDM report confidently claimed that “2022 wasn’t just a great year, it was an incredible year.” Not only was the agency bullish on 2022’s seemingly understated numbers, but it also predicted that 2023 could “reach new heights which may not be broken for decades to come.”

The numbers: DDM tracked more than 1,182 transactions – major investments, mergers, and acquisitions – in 2022. The group calculated $13.4 billion worth of investments over 893 transactions, good for third place all-time. M&As reached the highest total ever recorded by DDM, $38.1 billion from 289 transactions.

What were the big deals of 2022? Of the transactions included in the DDM’s full report, some of the largest were Take-Two Interactive’s $12.7 billion purchase of Farmville developer Zynga, Unity’s $4.4 billion merger with monetization and distribution app company ironsource, and Sony’s $3.6 billion purchase of Destiny 2 dev Bungie.

Where did the industry experience problems last year? 2022’s totals could have been even better the report argues, but the major falloff in the crypto market, high interest rates, inflation, and concerns about a possible recession had some investors feeling cautious.

What about next year? DDM’s optimistic outlook for 2023 hinges to a major degree on the result of Microsoft’s hopeful acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. That would be the biggest gaming deal in history and would beat most years’ cumulative investment and M&A totals all on its own.

Is the result of that merger in question? The acquisition looks far from a sure thing at this point. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission sued to prevent the deal. In the U.K., the Competition and Markets Authority claimed that the deal would threaten competition in the gaming market and be bad for gamers. Other European governments are also skeptical about the deal, and it looks like there could be a long way to go before any resolution is found.

“Nevertheless, DDM believes 2023 is shaping to be another good year for gaming investments, acquisitions, and IPOs, but industry growth will be hampered until macroeconomic pressures ease,” claims the report.