Playroom, a games studio building real-time multiplayer infrastructure and tooling for social, session-based experiences, has acquired the karaoke party title Karaoke Battle through its in-house label Little Umbrella. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The asset was purchased from MAYK AI (covers.ai) and includes a music licensing partnership with Stingray.
Playroom and Little Umbrella CEO Tabish Ahmed framed the deal as part of Little Umbrella’s push into more socially oriented party formats, adding that the team plans to bring the game in-house and expand its portfolio with music- and rhythm-based titles.
He also signaled plans to evolve the game beyond its original Discord launch to additional “surfaces and platforms.”
“It was great to do this deal with Stefan Heinrich. We’ve remained good friends for over 10 years since partnering together at YouTube. Wishing him the best in his next chapter, and grateful for the trust he’s placed in us with this title.”
Playroom and Little Umbrella CEO Tabish Ahmed
MAYK AI Co-Founder and CEO Stefan Heinrich characterized the sale as a “next chapter” for the project, describing it as the first Discord game the company built and saying it was created to explore more social ways people engage with music—an extension of MAYK AI’s experimentation in gaming after earlier steps on Roblox.
“It was a pleasure doing this deal. I’ve known Tabish Ahmed for over a decade, since our YouTube days, and I’m grateful for the trust and care they’re bringing to the project. Excited to see where they take it next.
MAYK AI Co-Founder and CEO Stefan Heinrich
Proud of what we built — and excited for what’s next.”
