Playtika, the Israeli mobile gaming giant, is acquiring Innplay Labs, a mobile gaming studio based in Israel, for $80 million. But the deal could end up being worth as much as $300 million.
The move comes just a few months after Playtika dropped plans to acquire Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish firm that is best known for the “Angry Birds” video game. That deal would have been for $738 million in cash.
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Founded in 2019 by founded by CEO Ore Gilron and CTO Oshri Bienhaker, Innplay Labs develops arcade and puzzle animation mobile games like Water Ride, Brix Master, and Animal Kingdom.
“In 2019, Innplay Labs formed with the goal of shaping the next generation of mobile gaming. Four years later, our robust team of talented high skilled game operators have put their passions together to create an outstanding game product with rich engaging content, providing our audience with a uniquely entertaining gaming experience,” said Ore Gilron, CEO of Innplay Labs. “Looking ahead, we believe becoming a part of Playtika’s strong portfolio of Casual titles will take Innplay Labs to new heights.”
Playtika was founded in 2010, by Robert Antokol and Uri Shahak (the son of former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak). Robert Antokol still serves from the beginning as CEO, and chairman since June 2020. The company currently has a market cap of almost $3.5 billion. This is way down of its one-time $11 billion valuation.
“The acquisition of Youda Games’ card game portfolio, with its strong IP, is in line with Playtika’s strategic incremental growth approach of leveraging our unrivaled LiveOps expertise and proprietary technology stack to optimize and scale games, strengthening our market position,” said Craig Abrahams, President and Chief Financial Officer of Playtika. “We believe this acquisition will be accretive to our financial performance and is part of our strategy to acquire proven franchises where we can add value.”
