The United States dominated investment in the gaming industry last year, accounting for 36 percent of the total deal value, followed by China at 27 percent, according to a new report.
In 2020, total investment in the global gaming industry reached 664 deals with a total value of $33.6 billion, according to an annual report by market research firm InvestGame.
Last year, acquisition deals amounted to $12.6 billion out of 219 deals, mainly from Tencent, Embraker Group, Stillfront, and Zynga. These deals accounted for 60% of the total value.
The largest acquisition in 2020 was Microsoft's $7.5 billion purchase of ZeniMax, while other major acquisitions included Zynga's $1.8 billion purchase of Peak Games, Tencent's $1.3 billion purchase of Leyou, and EA's agreement to buy Codemasters for $1.2 billion.
Venture and corporate investment in the gaming industry is also on the rise, with a total deal value of $5.9 billion across 363 deals, with multi-platform game developers and publishers in the spotlight, the report said.
In terms of public distribution, they were almost "stagnant" in the first quarter of 2020. But as social distancing measures turned people's attention to games, their revenues reached $15.1 billion by the end of last year.
China's gaming industry saw 20% increase in sales revenue to $42.65 billion in 2020, report says
