Savvy Games Group, a video games and esports firm that’s a part of the Saudi authorities’s Public Funding Fund, has agreed to acquire cellular video games studio Scopely for $4.9 billion. Based in 2011, Scopely is understood for a number of widespread cellular video games together with Yahtzee With Buddies, Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Pressure, Stumble Guys and Scrabble Go.

The Los-Angeles based mostly firm had a $3.3 billion post-money valuation in 2020 after elevating a $340 million funding spherical. Scopely has grown over the previous few years with various notable acquisitions. In 2020, Scopely acquired Disney’s FoxNext Games, and in 2021, the corporate acquired Sony Pictures Entertainment’s GSN Games For $1 billion.

“Scopely is without doubt one of the fastest-growing video games firms immediately, and we’ve lengthy admired their potential to construct loyal, engaged participant communities,” mentioned Savvy Video games Group CEO Brian Ward in a press release. “At Savvy Video games Group, our mission is to spend money on – and develop – the worldwide video games group by inviting the most effective minds to affix us.”

Scopely will function as a “autonomous firm” beneath the Savvy umbrella, which incorporates esports corporations ESL and Faceit. The corporate will continued to be led by co-CEOs Walter Driver and Javier Ferreira.

“As a part of the Savvy Video games Group portfolio, we’ll proceed to construct one of many world’s most diversified mobile-first video games firms,” mentioned Scopely co-CEO Javier Ferreira in a press launch. Our know-how platform, market-leading studio ecosystem, and world-class staff have all the time enabled us to remain one step forward of the quickly rising video games trade, delivering long-lasting franchises that delight gamers all over the world. We stay up for reimagining the way forward for play with Brian and the Savvy staff.”

Savvy says the acquisition, which is topic to regulatory approval, will strengthen its potential to ship new merchandise for the worldwide gaming group. The corporate additionally says the acquisition will even construct on Scopely’s cross-platform strategy to increase its stay providers experience to new segments like PC, console and extra.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that the Saudi Arabian authorities is betting $38 billion to change into the subsequent hub for the video-game trade, and that Savvy is seeking to develop and purchase top-tier video games.

The deal marks the sixth greatest acquisition in video video games historical past by way of value. The highest place on this class goes to Microsoft shopping for Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in a deal that’s nonetheless within the strategy of being accomplished, adopted by Take-Two buying Zynga for $12.7 billion, Tencent shopping for Supercell for $8.6 billion, Microsoft buying ZeniMax for $8.1 billion and Activision shopping for King for $5.9 billion.