MTG to Acquire Games Publisher Kongregate

MTG is set to acquire the U.S. games publisher and developer Kongregate from GameStop Corp. for an enterprise value of $55 million.

Kongregate, which is based in San Francisco, was founded in 2006 as a browser-based web gaming platform. It has since expanded into publishing for both mobile and Steam games, and now moves into its first-party game development following the acquisition of the games studio Ultrabit. As a publisher, Kongregate has revenue sharing agreements with games developers. MTG and Kongregate intend to acquire further first-party games developers.

The Kongregate investment follows MTG’s recent acquisition of 51 percent of the Hamburg-based online games developer InnoGames.

Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, MTG’s president and CEO, said: “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 $130 billion in 2020, of which mobile gaming is the fastest growing segment. Almost a third of the time people spend on mobile devices each day is spent gaming. We look forward to welcoming the high quality, hugely talented and well proven Kongregate team to MTG.”

Emily Greer, Co-Founder and CEO of Kongregate, added: “Our vision has always been to nurture the development of indie game developers and the consumer gaming community. Our values are all about integrity, collaboration, and most of all, fun. MTG is not only a great partner as we continue to step up our expansion into new gaming platforms and channels, but the right partner because they share our values and commitment to empowering indie development teams to create unique and innovative gaming experiences for consumers across any and all game platforms.”

Arnd Benninghoff, MTG’s executive VP and MTGx’s CEO, added: “MTG’s ambition is to create a next-generation publisher hub and acquiring Kongregate is the next step in this journey. They have a multi-platform business and a global audience network, and are now developing and acquiring their own high-value game studio IP. This will enable us to screen a wide range of gaming companies at an early stage, in order to find additional investment opportunities.”