Nexters buys three mobile studios for a combined $100m
Company acquires Cubic Games, RJ Games and Royal Ark to bolster its midcore presence
Nexters has shelled out around $100 million to acquire three mobile studios: Cubic Games, RJ Games, and Royal Ark.
Cubic Games is best known as the publisher of Pixel Gun 3D, a mobile first-person shooter. RJ Games is the studio behind Puzzle Breakers, while Royal Ark is the creator of mobile survival RPGs Dawn of Zombies and Shelter Wars.
Nexters hopes to amplify its position in the midcore genre with the investments, which are expected to be financed by a mix of cash and shares.
As part of the deal, Nexters will also acquire Cubic Games' parent company Lightmap.
It'll also gain 48% of the issued share capital of RJ Games' owner MX Capital, and approximately 49.4% of the issued share capital of Castcrown, the publisher of the two aforementioned Royal Ark Games.
It's worth noting that Dmitry Bukhman, co-founder of Puzzle Breakers' original developer Playrix is also the owner of Everix Investments, which currently owns the aforementioned share of MX Capital. Everix also holds a 38% share in Nexters.
All transactions are expected to complete in Q1, 2022.
"We are excited to announce the inaugural M&A deals of Nexters as a public company, showing proof of our ambition to consolidate the gaming industry in the Russian-speaking region," said Nexters CEO and co-founder Andrey Fadeev. "We believe these deals, combined, are one of the largest gaming M&A transactions in the region, and will create a strong foundation for further consolidation."