MTG looks to the mobile game dev space with $55m Kongregate acquisition

Modern Times Group (MTG) has acquired cross platform games publisher Kongregate in a deal worth $55m (£43.3m). 

Emily Greer, Kongregate

MTG is of course heavily involved in esports. It acquired a majority stake in Turtle Entertainment in 2015, which itself has both ESL and DreamHack under its umbrella. The full MTG press release on this acquisition can be found here

Kongregate CEO Emily Greer said: “As those strategic discussions evolved, MTG emerged as our preferred partner. They share our values and support our mission to nurture the growth of independent game developers and player communities. They are excited about our direction and are uniquely positioned to support us as we continue to push into new and exciting areas of the gaming industry.”

The company was founded in 2006 but since 2010 Kongregate has been owned by GameStop and in that time they’ve brought over 40 games to mobile. With the MTG backing it the company is now looking to expand and has open positions ready to view on its jobs section. The US company has offices in both San Francisco and Portland, and currently boasts 80 employees. 

Kongregate reportedly attracts ‘up to 14 million monthly active users across platforms’ and it’s moving into first party game development. More news from the press release was that it is expected to generate sales of at least $50m in 2017. 

This purchase by MTG follows on from its majority stake acquisition of Hamburg based online games developer InnoGames. 

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG President and CEO stated: “This investment is in line with our strategy to invest in relevant, complementary and scalable digital content and communities. Online gaming is one of our three digital entertainment verticals, and we are establishing a presence in a gaming industry expected to be worth some USD 130 billion in 2020, of which mobile gaming is the fastest growing segment.”

Esports Insider says: The mobile gaming space is already huge and growing fast. Kongregate’s proven success in this market suggests this is a sensible move by MTG. As for what it means for mobile esports, for now that’s anybody’s guess but with the owners of ESL and DreamHack acquiring a mobile games publisher and developer, it can’t hurt.