Aream & Co., the largest independent investment bank focused exclusively on interactive entertainment and working with Founders, CEOs, and Boards, has shared its Q1 2025 report on the games industry.
The report reveals that M&A hit $6.6bn in Q1—the highest in 2 years—and exceeds pre-pandemic levels, with mobile continuing to dominate headline activity.
The company’s recent deals include Spyke Games’s minority investment from Moon Active, MTG’s $620 million deal for Plarium, Easybrain’s $1.2 billion sale to Miniclip, and so much more.
The report reveals that new mobile game releases are rapidly declining, and new PC games continue growing, as Steam sees over three times more new releases than the App Store.
Despite seeing a lower number of games, mobile deals are driving the M&A scene.
Summary of Q1 2025
General Market Environment
- PC gaming momentum continues, with Steam hitting record CCUs and solid performance from a mix of established franchises and indies.
- Mobile consumer spend returns to growth (+3% YoY1), driven by strong performance from Asian publishers.
- Console market remains steady, with 2025 expected to be a defining year in terms of hardware (Switch II) and software (GTA VI).
Dealmaking Activity
- Deal activity driven by strategics taking a more active role in reshaping their portfolios, select group of private consolidators pursuing acquisitions and growing private-equity interest in the space.
- Private financings remain challenging, particularly in later stage rounds
- Ecosystem continues to grow, with new managers emerging and existing funds raising follow-on funds
Capital Markets
- Debt markets remain open for business, driven largely by refinancing activity
- Strong Q1 performance driven by large-cap diversified publishers
- Valuation gap between PC & Console and Mobile publishers persist
Most significant gaming transactions in Q1 2025
The Mergers and acquisitions in Q1 2025 had the second-highest value ever in a quarter, with a total of $6.6 billion, falling behind Q4 2023, when Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.
Public Offerings also topped the charts with a $5.1 billion deal value over 12 deals.
Private Investments saw the lowest deal value since Q2 2023.
The full report offers much more detail and can be accessed here.
