In the third quarter, gaming mergers and acquisitions activity reached 49 deals worth $56.9 billion, driven by the $55 billion bid to buy Electronic Arts, according to a report by M&A firm Aream & Co.
The EA deal was the largest all-cash sponsor-led gaming LBO in history. The consortium led by Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake private equity, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners marked the peak of institutional investor consolidation, with 12 sponsor-backed transactions announced this year.
Other strategic activity included Sony’s minority stake acquisition of Bandai Namco and Aonic’s acquisition of Prime Insights. Asian strategic acquirers accelerated dealmaking activity, remaining active on public markets while pursuing transmedia opportunities and Western studio portfolios.
Capital markets contracted after first half’s momentum, with Q3 issuance totaling just $300 million across five transactions versus $10.1 billion in the first half. Despite the slowdown, gaming equities remained robust with large-cap diversified and PC/console publishers trading at 14 times to 16 times forward EBITDA (a measure of profitability) multiples , widening the valuation gap with mobile peers. Share price performance showed increasing dispersion across companies, reflecting company-specific fundamentals rather than platform-level dynamics.
Private investments remained subdued at $600 million across 82 deals – the lowest quarterly volume in five years. Series A financing declined for the fifth consecutive quarter as venture capital maintained disciplined deployment.
Capital concentrated in gaming technology (AI, web-shop, VR) and mobile studios, with Turkish developers capturing significant funding as the region solidified its position as a global mobile hub.
Consumer spending regained momentum. Mobile IAP revenue returned to growth at $21.0 billion, led by Asian publishers. PC gaming sustained +18% YoY growth on Steam, while console platforms delivered +31% YoY revenue growth anchored by Nintendo’s Switch 2 launch, with Sony and Microsoft posting double-digit content gains. UGC platform Roblox reached record engagement, surpassing 21 million concurrent users.