Global Gaming Report Q1 2026 (Drake Star)

Summary

• Q1 2026 gaming M&A hit a 15-month high with 51 deals and over $100B in disclosed value.p.3
• Gaming M&A in the quarter totaled 51 deals and $117.6B in announced deals.p.5
• Paramount agreed to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, including Warner Bros. Games, at an enterprise value of $110B.p.4
• Savvy Games Group acquired Moonton, developer of Mobile Legends, for $6B.p.4
• In private financings, the quarter saw 106 deals with disclosed deal value totaling $785M.p.3
• The three largest private deals were in AR / XR hardware: RayNeo ($143M), Xreal ($100M) and VITURE ($100M).p.3
• The Drake Star Gaming Index ended the quarter at -1.8%, with the mobile index at -14.4% and the PC/Console index at 8.9%.p.16

Key insights

1. NCSOFT agreed to acquire a 70% stake in Berlin-based mobile games developer JustPlay for $202M.p.4
2. JustPlay generated $173M in revenue and $19M in operating profit in 2025.p.6
3. Nazara Technologies will acquire a 50% controlling stake in Bluetile Games for $100.3M.p.4
4. Mattel agreed to acquire NetEase's 50% interest in Mattel163 for $159M, in a studio valued at $318M.p.4
5. RayNeo held 24% of the AR glasses market in Q3 2025.p.9
6. Public deals were headlined by refinancings from Light & Wonder ($2.13B) and Playtika ($500M), and Hasbro priced $400M in new notes.p.3