Publisher Take-Two Interactive is best known as the parent company of Grand Theft Auto V developer Rockstar Games, but the company also has a strong presence on mobile. Now, Take-Two is beefing up its mobile gaming business through the acquisition of developer Playdots. This is the studio responsible for the popular iOS and Android puzzler Two Dots.
Take-Two’s acquisition deal is worth $192 million in cash and stocks. And the publisher claims this team will help give it more exposure to the “casual, free-to-play games” market. Playdots chief executive Nir Efrat will continue to oversee the studio under its new ownership.
Here’s a statement from Take-Two executive vice president of strategy and independent publishing Michael Worosz:
Our acquisition of Playdots will diversify and strengthen further Take-Two’s mobile game offerings, particularly within the casual, free-to-play segment. Two Dots continues to grow its audience and under the leadership of Nir, the addition of scavenger hunts, social leader boards and live-ops technology are enhancing the game and driving meaningful, long-term consumer engagement. We are very pleased to welcome Nir and the entire team at Playdots to the Take-Two family and are excited by the potential of their development pipeline and positive, long-term contributions to our business.
Playdots games Dots, Two Dots, and Dots & Co. are all relatively successful hits. They’ve accumulated more than 100 million downloads in total and continue to grow. And that’s exactly what makes the developer so appealing to Take-Two.
Free-to-play casual games have the potential to last for years. This enables them to earn a huge return on a small upfront investment. That revenue is also more easily predictable than a premium console-game product.
Playdots joins Rockstar, 2K, Private Division, Ghost Story Games, and Socialpoint under Take-Two’s banner.