Raid: Shadow Legends developer Plarium has been acquired by Swedish leisure conglomerate Trendy Occasions Group, and the quantity for which the studio was acquired could effectively shock you.
Based on a press launch, MTG (that is Trendy Occasions Group, in fact, not Magic: The Gathering) acquired Plarium for a staggering $620 million, of which $20 million can be deferred to 2026.
That goes to indicate simply how large the cellular gaming enterprise nonetheless is (though, in fact, Raid: Shadow Legends can also be obtainable on PC). We’re not fairly within the realms of Take-Two’s monumental Zynga acquisition or Microsoft’s large Activision Blizzard merger, however $620 million is to not be sniffed at.
The quantity for which Plarium was acquired would possibly sound like loads, however as MTG factors out, the studio “generated $613 million in revenues” between September 2023 and September 2024, so the acquisition is value roughly one yr of Plarium’s income.
The group says that Plarium’s “tech and deep experience in live-ops, advertising and marketing and monetization” will profit its “efficiency over the long run”, and that the acquisition will “considerably enhance MTG’s already sturdy money circulate technology”.
For those who’re solely accustomed to Raid: Shadow Legends from interstitial adverts and sponsorship offers, then you could not know simply how large a deal it’s, however suffice it to say that the sport does fairly effectively for itself financially.
Again in July 2022, it was revealed that Raid: Shadow Legends had handed $1 billion in general income, and whereas that does not fairly put it on the extent of a mega-hit like Tencent’s Honor of Kings, these are actually big-league numbers.
Though Plarium is especially recognized for Raid: Shadow Legends, the corporate does produce other video games as effectively, together with free-to-play PvP shooter Mech Enviornment and informal puzzler Merge Gardens, amongst others.
We’ll have to attend and see what MTG’s acquisition of Plarium yields, nevertheless it’s unlikely to alter the latter’s enterprise practices in any significant manner. Keep tuned for extra.
