2. Atomico invests in disruptive technology companies with ambitious
founders from Series A onwards. Our experienced team includes
founders and operators from the world's most successful
technology firms who partner with our companies as they scale to
become global winners. Founded in 2006, Atomico has made over
80 investments into companies including Supercell, Rovio, Klarna,
Stripe, ofo, Lilium, 6Wunderkinder and The Climate Corporation.
Atomico’s team includes founders of six billion dollar companies,
and operational leaders who were responsible for global
expansion, hiring, user growth and marketing at companies from
Skype and Google to Uber, Facebook and Spotify.
About Atomico
1
3. We ❤ games at Atomico and have a passionate team who live and breathe for the games industry
Atomico Games Team
2
Stephen
Thorne
Senior Associate
Atomico
@stephen2206
Mattias
Ljungman
Partner
Atomico
@ljungman
Alexis
Bonte
CEO
eRepublik Labs
Executive in
Residence
Atomico
@alexisbonte
4. Executive Summary
Fun and games is big business. The top fifty publicly-listed games companies
in the world have created almost $500 Billion [half a trillion] in public market
value and, in the last year, the games industry reported revenues of over
$100bn. Driving this explosion in mobile gaming are European games
studios, who, having quietly proven their genius for mobile games, now have
an opportunity to push on to become global giants. While they have already
achieved a global reach, to take the next step, European games studios need
to crack China, the world’s largest market.
In the last few years, a range of private market investors have bet on the
games industry, with Europe in particular taking an increasing share of global
games funding rounds. A growing share of the strategic investment into
European games comes from the behemoths of Asia, who recognise that
something special is happening. Unsurprisingly, iconic European games
companies King and Supercell are using their nous to back the next
generation of European games winners.
The business case is obvious. 88% of the 24 billion-dollar games companies
founded in the last fifteen years have achieved liquidity, with markets showing
a strong appetite for all sizes of IPOs. The top twenty-largest games M&A
transactions have created $46bn in exit value-of which 70% was delivered by
European targets. Europe’s status as the capital of mobile games
development is solid, and, European content is going global. 36% of all
mobile games publishers are based in Europe, more than any other region,
and 69% of revenue is earned outside the continent.
But, if we take Apple’s iOS as a sample, European games studios have so
much room to grow in China. Europe has only 4.6% of the iOS market in the
undisputed games capital of the world, where gamers spent $24.6bn in 2016.
However, the market share of European games firms is rising, and even a 2%
rise from their 2014 figures delivered in increase in revenues of 9x ($27.8m-
$253.9M) in just two years. With stats like this, it’s little surprise that China’s
games companies are the most valuable, and have the largest war chests.
So, for European games studios to break China, there’ll need to be a new era
of collaboration. 93% of iOS gamer spend in China is on Chinese games. The
market is the most localised in the world. On the other hand, film and music
show that the appetite for international content is extremely strong. If Western
games companies produce the mobile equivalent of the Fate of the Furious,
or Taylor Swift’s 1989 album, billions of dollars of value will be
unlocked. Whoever collaborates correctly could produce the first gamer base
of one billion monthly active users. There are now more than two billion
gamers globally. Games companies, such as Activision Blizzard or Tencent,
are already building player bases in the hundreds of millions. With the right
partnerships, it’s just a matter of time.
A word of thanks to all of our interviewees for sharing their insights and to all
of our data partners, App Annie, CB Insighs, S&P CapitalIQ, and Unity,
without whom this report would not have been possible.
3
Tom Wehmeier
Head of Research
Atomico
@twehmeier
5. Alexis Bonte
CEO / XIR
eRepublik Labs / Atomico
4
Games Industry Interviewees for this Report
Andrew Stalbow
CEO
Seriously
Bill Wang
President, Overseas
360 Games
Corentin Raux
CEO
Pretty Simple
David Gardner
Partner
London Venture Partners
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson
CEO
CCP Games
Ilkka Paananen
CEO
Supercell
Jayson Chi
Games Industry Expert
Independent
Kati Levoranta
CEO
Rovio
Kelly Poon
Partner, China
Atomico
Mattias Ljungman
Partner
Atomico
Samuli Syvähuoko
CEO
Armada Interactive
Teemu Huuhtanen
CEO
Next Games
Wilhelm Taht
EVP, Games
Rovio
6. Data Partners
5
App Annie delivers the most trusted
app data and insights for your
business to succeed in the global app
economy. Over 800,000 registered
members rely on App Annie to better
understand the app market, their
businesses and the opportunities
around them. The company is
headquartered in San Francisco with
450 employees across 15 global
offices. App Annie has received $157
million in financing, including from
investors such as Sequoia Capital,
Institutional Venture Partners, IDG
Capital Partners, e.ventures,
Greenspring Associates, and
Greycroft Partners.
For more information, visit:
http://www.appannie.com
The technology market intelligence
platform. CB Insights software lets you
predict, discuss, and communicate
emerging technology trends using
data in ways that are beyond human
cognition.
For more information, visit:
http://www.cbinsights.com
At S&P Global Market Intelligence, we
know that not all information is
important—some of it is vital.
Accurate, deep and insightful. We
integrate financial and industry data,
research and news into tools that help
track performance, generate alpha,
identify investment ideas, understand
competitive and industry dynamics,
perform valuation and assess credit
risk. Investment professionals,
government agencies, corporations
and universities globally can gain the
intelligence essential to making
business and financial decisions with
conviction.
S&P Global Market Intelligence is a
division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI),
which provides essential intelligence
for individuals, companies and
governments to make decisions with
confidence.
For more information, visit:
www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence
Unity Technologies is the creator of a
flexible and high-performance end-to-
end development platform used to
create rich interactive 2D, 3D, VR and
AR experiences. Unity’s powerful
graphics engine and full-featured
editor serve as the foundation to
develop beautiful games or apps and
easily bring them to multiple platforms:
mobile devices, home entertainment
systems, personal computers, and
embedded systems. Unity also offers
solutions and services boosting
productivity and connecting with
audiences including Unity Analytics
and Unity Ads.
For more information, visit:
http://unity3d.com
8. The games industry reached three key milestones in 2016
The games industry is at an important tipping point
Source: Newzoo
▶︎Games revenue exceeds $100B
▶︎Mobile takes over to become most valuable segment
▶︎Global gamer base breaks 2B for the first time
7
9. 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Global Games Revenue
Total Games Revenue Mobile as % of Total
38%
42%
46%
51%48%
$101B
Games is now a $100B+ global industry reaching 2 billion gamers
Source: Newzoo, Motion Picture Association of America,IFPI, Unity 8
Games industry revenue set to grow at 6% CAGR to hit $129B in 2020, powered by mobile games
$109B $116B $123B
$129B
▶︎ Global games revenue exceeded $100B for the first time in 2016 with the total market
continuing to grow at 6% CAGR
▶︎ Games industry set to be worth 2x the combined value of the global movie ($39B)
and recorded music ($16B) industries
▶︎ There are now over 2 billion gamers worldwide, according to Newzoo. While Unity
data shows games using its software have been installed on 6.3B unique devices,
including 1.1 billion in Europe and 1.6 billion in China
“Mobile games seem to continue
being a very appealing way to
consume time and the
experiences they can offer are
just getting better and better.
Innovation and creativity will be
boosted by tougher competition. It
feels like each year in mobile
gaming will be more exciting
than the previous one.”
Kati Levoranta
CEO
Rovio
10. 24 $B+ games companies founded in just the last 15 years
9
The games industry is a factory for $B+ companies…
Source: Atomico
IGG
2006 | Singapore | Public
MZ
2008 | US | Private
Zynga
2007 | US | Public
Garena
2009 | Singapore | Private
Unity
2009 | Europe | Private
Colopl
2008 | Japan | Public
Gree
2004 | Japan | Public
Koei Tecmo
2009 | Japan | Public
Supercell
2010 | Europe | Acq’d
King
2003 | Europe | Acq’d
Mojang
2009 | Europe | Acq’d
Outfit7
2009 | Europe | Acq’d
Playtika
2010 | Europe | Acq’d
ZQGame
2007 | China | Public
Ourpalm
2004 | China | Public
Perfect World
2004 | China | Public
Q1
2008 | China | Public
Youzu
2009 | China | Public
Kunlun
2008 | China | Public
Changyou
2007 | China | Public
Dalian Zeus
2010 | China | Public
G-bits
2004 | China | Public
Kingnet
2008 | China | Public
Electronic Soul
2008 | China | Public
11. 6
43 30
334
36
5
1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Total Enterprise Value by Decade Founded (US$B)
Decade founded
10
…and has a rich history that now spans more than five decades
Note: Based on games companies with Total Enterprise Value of >$100M
Source: S&P Capital IQ Platform, as of 31 March 2017, For Illustrative Purposes Only
▶︎ Since the 1970s, every
decade has produced games
companies that have gone to
list on the public markets
and with tens of billions of
enterprise value
▶︎ The development of the
online and mobile games
segments in the 1990s and
2000s saw a huge expansion
of the number of public
games companies
Going back to the 1970s, the games industry has produced tens of billions of enterprise value per decade
2 3 4 20 32 10
Numbers of Public Games Companies (TEV>$100M) Founded Per Decade
12. 43 of Top 50 most valuable public games companies are from Asia, including 18 from China
Games has created ~$0.5 trillion in public market enterprise value
11
China Europe Rest of AsiaUS Korea Japan
ActivisionBlizzard
NetEase
ElectronicArts
Nintendo
Sanqi
PerfectWorld
NCSoft
Konami
Ubisoft
Take-TwoInteractive
NEXON
YouzuInteractive
Kunlun
Ourpalm
G-bits
Mixi
Kingnet
DalianZeus
SquareEnix
DeNA
KoeiTecmo
IGG
CDProjekt
ElectronicSoul
Zynga
Sanrio
NetDragonWebsoft
GungHoOnline
Capcom
Changyou.com
Com2uS
TianGeInteractive
ZQGAME
Gree
NHNEntertainment
Colopl
ParadoxInteractive
AkatsukiInc.
WebzenInc.
Starbreeze
DOUBLEUGAMES
GAMEVIL
Aeria
gumi
Mynet
FeiyuTechnology
GluMobile
Me2onC
G5Entertainment
Top 50 publicly-listed games companies
by Total Enterprise Value (US$B)
Tencent
“It's easy to forget the
Asia success story. If
you look at China and
Asia, there are all
these publicly-traded
companies that
nobody thinks about.
People in Western
markets will often say
‘Oh, those Asian
companies, they don't
count’ and I'll say ‘are
you kidding me?’"
David Gardner
Partner
London Venture Partners
Note: Based on games companies with Total Enterprise Value of >$100M
Source: S&P Capital IQ Platform, as of 31 March 2017, For Illustrative Purposes Only
13. Public market investor confidence driving games companies to new highs
12
Weighted average TEV/LTM revenue multiple of games index of 72 companies >$100M TEV up to 7x
▶︎ Investor confidence in games companies has increased
significantly over the past five years, resulting in doubling
of the weighted average TEV/LTM revenue multiple
▶︎ Tencent, unsurprisingly, weighs heavily on the index, but
even excluding Tencent, average multiples globally have
expanded from around 2x revenues in 2012 to >4x in 2017
0
2
4
6
8
Weightedaverage
TEV/LTMrevenue
Weighted TEV/LTM Revenue Multiple
Games Index Games Index (ex-Tencent)
4.0 5.8
9.5
6.9
19.6
29.5 27.8
45.9
Games Social Marketplaces SaaS
Median trading multiples by category
EV/LTM Rev EV/LTM EBITDA
▶︎ Despite an increase in multiples for public games
companies, they trade at discount to other tech categories
▶︎ On a trailing 12-month basis, public games companies trade
at a median of 4x EV/revenue and 20x EV/EBITDA
Note: Based on games companies with Total Enterprise Value of >$100M
Source: S&P Capital IQ Platform, as of 31 March 2017, For Illustrative Purposes Only
15. 14
Private market investors want to invest in games, especially in Europe…
Note: Data for 2017 to 31 March 2017 only
Source: CB Insights
YTD 2017, Europe accounts for 35% of global games funding rounds, more than any other region
▶︎ Despite perceptions in some quarters that investors have pulled
back from gaming, the number of rounds closed by games
companies globally has stayed consistent since 2012
▶︎ Based on the rate of investments into games companies in the
first quarter of the year, 2017 is on track for a very strong year
▶︎ Investment rounds into European games companies have
been increasing since 2012
▶︎ As a result, the region is taking growing share of global
rounds and accounted for nearly 36% of rounds in 2016
▶︎ $0.8B has been invested into European games
companies since 2012
228
189 219 201 172
62
186
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017*
# of rounds into global games companies
# of rounds Annual run-rate based on 1Q17
52 49 46
66 62
22
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
0
20
40
60
80
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017*
# of rounds into European games
companies
# of rounds % of global total
248
16. Mobile games companies dominate, but investment is flowing into a diverse field of games categories
15
…where games companies of all types have attracted funding…
Note: Categorisation based on keyword analysis of business descriptions of companies that raised investment rounds during each defined period (1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014 and 1 January 2015 to 31 March 2017).
Source: CB Insights
▶︎ Games companies focused
on mobile continuing to
attract the largest number of
investment rounds in Europe
▶︎ New categories, such as VR,
esports and (to a lesser
extent) AR have emerged as
new investment categories in
Europe
▶︎ Social has seen declining
use in company descriptions,
partly due to a decrease in
Facebook games, but also
as more games now have
some social element to the
point where it's expected and
not included in descriptions
71
13
52
1 0 1 2 4 1 4 3
62
19 16 14
8 6 4 4 3 3 3
# of rounds into European games companies by
company focus
# of rounds - 2012-2014 # of rounds - 2015-2017
17. Europe is home to some of the world’s leading angel investors and VCs focused on games
…from a deep and sophisticated local investor base…
16
Ilkka
Paananen
Jari
Ovaskainen
Jonas
Mårtensson
Samuli
Syvähuoko
Sebastian
Knutsson
Moaffak
Ahmed
Paul
Bragiel
Jens
Hilgers
Carl
Manneh
18. Strategic investors, especially from Asia, are driving a high volume of investment activity
17
…as well as from new pools of capital active in the region
Source: CB Insights
The Rise of Asian Strategic Investors
The Blurring of the Entertainment & Media Landscape
One Generation of Studios Investing in the Next
Nexon
Korea
Playfusion
UK
invested in…
NetEase
China
Reforged
Finland
invested in…
Lionsgate
United States
Next Games
Finland
invested in…
Universal Music
United States
Nuday Games
Sweden
invested in…
Supercell
Finland
Shipyard Games
Finland
invested in…
King
Sweden
Snowprint Studios
Sweden
invested in…
▶︎ Asia’s largest games companies have
emerged as a new source of strategic investor
capital in Europe by investing actively into
local studios
▶︎ Investors from the entertainment & media
industries are becoming active as they seek to
add games to their portfolio of entertainment
services
▶︎ Europe’s leading games companies are
starting to invest into the next generation as
they seek to build ties to the region’s up-and-
coming studios
19. 88% of the 24 $B+ games companies founded in the last 15 years achieved liquidity
Investor interest in games is not surprising: it’s tech’s most liquid market
18Source: Atomico
2
2
3
6
11
Rest of Asia
US
Japan
Europe
China
# of $B+ games companies
founded since 2003
88%
39%
12%
61%
Games companies Tech companies (ex-Games)
Operating status of $B+ games
companies founded since 2003
IPO'd or acquired Private
▶︎ 24 games companies founded since 2003 (last 15 years) have
gone to reach valuations of more than $1 billion
▶︎ China (11) and then Europe (6) have been the two regions that
have produced the most, accounting for 68% of all $B+
companies founded over the past 15 years
▶︎ Games companies have proven to have a much
clearer path to liquidity compared to tech companies
from other categories
▶︎ While only 39% of non-games $B+ tech companies founded
in the last 15 years have IPO’d or been acquired, 88% of
games companies have achieved liquidity
2
20. Games companies of all sizes are finding strong investor interest in their initial public offerings
Large-cap: Netmarble IPO Small & mid-cap: Next Games IPO
Games is seeing a healthy market for IPOs…
19Source: Bloomberg, Next Games
21. Top 20 largest M&A transactions in the games industry have driven a combined $46B in exit value
20
…and an unprecedented level of consolidation
Note: Top 20 largest games M&A transaction by total implied enterprise value between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2017
Source: CB Insights
TRANSACTION EV (US$B) YEAR
Supercell (Europe) acquired by Tencent 10.2 2016
King (Europe) acquired by Activision Blizzard 5.9 2015
Supercell (Europe) acquired by SoftBank Group 5.5 2015
Playtika (Europe) acquired by Shanghai Giant 4.4 2016
Supercell (Europe) acquired by GungHo/Softbank 3.0 2013
Giant (China) acquired by Baring Private Equity Asia 3.0 2014
Mojang (Europe) acquired by Microsoft 2.5 2014
91 Wireless (China) acquired by Baidu 1.9 2013
Shanda Games (China) acquired by Management Buyout 1.9 2015
OutFit7 (Europe) acquired by United Luck Group 1.1 2017
TRANSACTION EV (US$B) YEAR
Twitch (US) acquired by Amazon 1.0 2014
FunPlus (China) acquired by Zhongii Investment Holding 1.0 2014
Big Fish Games (US) acquired by Churchill Downs Inc. 0.9 2014
Shanggame (China) acquired by Ourpalm 0.7 2015
Kabam (US) acquired by NetMarble 0.7 2016
iDreamSky (China) acquired by Management Buyout 0.6 2015
GameABC (China) acquired by ZheBao Media 0.6 2012
NaturalMotion (Europe) acquired by Zynga 0.5 2014
gloops (Japan) acquired by NEXON 0.5 2012
Gaikai (US) acquired by Sony 0.4 2012
22. 21
Europe leads on games IPOs since 2012, but typically at small scale…
Source: S&P CapitalIQ Platform, as of 31 March 2017, For Illustrative Purposes Only
▶︎ There have been a total of 52 games industry IPOs on a
global basis since 2012, with highs of 14 in 2014 and 2016
▶︎ Perhaps surprisingly, Europe has delivered the largest
number of games IPOs over this period (20)
▶︎ Games IPOs in Europe have typically been at smaller end of the
scale (<$100M EV), raising a median of just $8M at IPO
▶︎ A lack of large outcomes via IPO from Europe is in contrast to the
number of large-cap outcomes via M&A by European games cos
Europe has produced 38% of games company IPOs 2012-2016, but almost all have been small-cap listings
2 2
4 5 6
1
1 2
4 1
3
1
2 1
3
3
2
2
2
1
1
1 2
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Number of games company IPOs by region, 2012-
2016
Europe China Japan Korea Rest of Asia US
122
84
51
40 40
120
25 21
8
18
China Korea Japan Europe Rest of Asia
Average proceeds raised at IPO (US$M)
Mean Median
23. …and is also driving a significant share of global M&A volume…
Note: Data based on transactions from 1 January 2012 to 31 March 2017.
Source: CB Insights
22
>100 European games companies have been acquired since 2012, including 71 since 2015
▶︎ The UK and Nordics account for nearly 50% of all M&A volume in
Europe’s games industry and have seen 50+ exits since 2012
▶︎ Other European markets have all seen significant exits, such as
Spain (Social Point), Slovenia (Outfit7) and Israel (Playtika)
▶︎ There have been 106 acquisitions of Europe-based games
companies since 2012 out of a global total of ~500
▶︎ In total, Europe accounted for 22% of exits since 2012,
although the share of European exits has accelerated more
recently and reached 39% of all exits since 1 January 2015
35
71
187
184
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
2012-2014 2015-1Q17
#ofM&Atransactions
# of games M&A transactions
European Exits Rest of World Exits
25
14
12
10
8 8 8
4 4 3
10
# of games M&A transactions by country
24. Top 10 largest European games M&A transactions by deal value since 2012
…including multiple $B+ exits via M&A…
23Source: CB Insights
COMPANY HQ COUNTRY VALUE (US$B) YEAR BUYER HQ COUNTRY
Supercell Finland 10.2 2016 Tencent China
King Ireland 5.9 2015 Activision Blizzard US
Supercell Finland 5.5 2015 SoftBank Japan
Playtika Israel 4.4 2016 Giant China
Supercell Finland 3.0 2013 GungHo/SoftBank Japan
Mojang Sweden 2.5 2014 Microsoft US
OutFit7 UK 1.1 2017 United Luck Group China
NaturalMotion UK 0.5 2014 Zynga US
Jagex UK 0.3 2016 Shandong Hongda China
Social Point Spain 0.3 2017 Take-Two US
▶︎ Europe has seen 7 billion-
dollar acquisitions since
2012, including Supercell,
which has been acquired on
multiple occasions
▶︎ Each of the Top 10 largest
transactions in Europe has
involved buyers from outside
the region, led by China, the
US and followed by Japan
25. 71%
22%
6%
1% 0%
Share of aggregate value of Top 20
largest games M&A transactions by target HQ
% of Value by Target Region
Europe delivered 7 of the Top 20 largest M&A deals by value since 2012, accounting for deals worth $33B
24
…amazingly, European targets drove 70%+ of M&A value in Top 20 deals
Note: Based on sum of Top 20 largest M&A transactions involving games companies by deal value between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2017
Source: CB Insights
“True revolutionary disruptive
innovation, is coming from these
unknown territories. Weird places
like Finland up north, where we
have nothing to lose. We’ve had
Rovio, Supercell, and King emerge
from this region, and that innovative
culture is trickling down.”
Samuli Syvähuoko
CEO
Armada Interactive
26. 25
…helping cement Europe as the world’s mobile games developer capital
Note: Share of 2016 revenue includes revenue generated from iOS App Store and Google Play
Source: App Annie
11% 15%
11% 9%
6% 5%
25% 20%
35% 36%
7% 10%
6% 6%
1 2
Distribution of mobile game publishing companies by
company headquarters region
China Japan Korea
United States Europe Rest of Asia
Rest of World
2012 2016
19
8
10
8 4
4
4 3
3
1
30
6 7 5
4
3
3
3
47
4
2
10
Shareof2016Revenue
&2016Companies
Share of 2016 revenue from companies
headquartered in Europe
% of 2016 Companies % of 2016 Revenue by HQ Country
▶︎ Inside Europe, the UK, Russia and Germany boast the
largest concentration of mobile game publishing companies
▶︎ Finland, meanwhile, punches above its weight dramatically.
It accounts for 3% of all European mobile games
companies, but delivers nearly 50% of the region’s mobile
games revenue
36% of all mobile game publishing companies are based in Europe
“European games developers could start from scratch on mobile
because they had no legacy PC or console business. They started
out with small teams to create games for mobile platforms and
for a long time had almost no competitors, especially not the big
studios from the US or Japan.”
Corentin Raux, CEO, Pretty Simple
Distributionofgamespublishing
companiesbyregion
27. Europe is home to 36% of mobile games publishing companies, more than any other region
Unique advantages allowed Europe to lead world in mobile development
26
“In the Nordics, you have had
the kind of mixture of technical
prowess as evidenced by the
mod scene and tech companies
in the region and this long rich
tradition for world creation. It
goes back to the Prose Edda,
which were ancient narrative
masterpieces written in the
1300's.”
Hilmar Veigar Pétursson
CEO
CCP Games
▶︎ Deep, Passionate Talent Pool of Small Teams
▶︎ Creative Strength Steeped in Storytelling
▶︎ Building for Mobile ‘Before it was Mobile’
▶︎ Deeply Connected Community via Mod Scene
▶︎ Not Encumbered by Legacy Businesses
▶︎ Funding Culture Supporting Experimentation
Source: App Annie
28. European mobile games developers earn 69% of revenue outside their home region
27
European studios are successful ‘exporters’ of games to new markets…
Note: Data refers to combined iOS App Store & Google Play revenue (unless stated) for 2016
Source: App Annie
HQ Region of company
69%
50%
42%
29%
13%
Europe Korea United States China Japan
% of 2016 Revenue Generated Outside HQ Region
▶︎ European games developers
earn the largest share of
revenue outside of their
home region compared to
those from all other regions
▶︎ According to App Annie, 69%
of European game
publishing companies
revenue was earned outside
of Europe in 2016
▶︎ Japanese developers earn
the lowest share of income
outside their home market
at just 13%
29. Brands such as Rovio’s Angry Birds and Mojang’s Minecraft have achieved incredible global recognition
28
European games have built powerful global entertainment brands…
Source: Rovio
99%98%98%98%97%97%95%95%94%94%91%90%
84%
74%
Worldwide aided brand awareness
99% 97% 97% 95% 93%
China US Korea UK Spain
Rovio aided brand awareness
Games rank amongst the most recognised
entertainment brands…
…and have built powerful presences on
a global basis, especially in China
30. Rovio, for example, leveraged a global brand to build new revenue streams around its core games business
29
…and also successfully ‘exporting’ their brands beyond games
Source: Variety, PocketGamer
Rovio’s successful move into film, which
generated $350M globally and became
the #3 international animated
film in China…
…has served to strengthen its games
business and led to rapid growth
32. Chinese gamers now spend more on games than any other market globally, hitting $24.6B in 2016
China, meanwhile, became the undisputed gamer capital of the world
31Source: Newzoo
“If you want to be a
world leading game
studio, you cannot
ignore the Chinese
market. There are over
600 million gamers in
China. That’s twice the
population of the US.”
Kelly Poon
Partner
Atomico
Market value: $20.3B
Share of global market: 20%
Market value: $24.1B
Share of global market: 24%
Market value: $24.6B
Share of global market: 24%
Market value: $4B
Share of global market: 4%
Market value: $12.4B
Share of global market: 12%
33. 3%
31%
37%
23%
16%
22%
24%
10%
11%
7%
8% 6%
1% 2%
2012 2016
Share of global iOS App Store games revenue
Korea
Rest of World
Rest of Asia
Europe
Japan
United States
China
$2.4B
In China iOS App Store games spend hit $5.5B in 2016, making it the world’s most valuable market
32
On iOS App Store, Chinese spend grew 72x vs 5.5x outside China
Note: iOS App Store games revenue only. Refers to net revenue after payments to Apple
Source: App Annie
$18.0B
▶︎ Net revenue generated by games on
iOS App Store has grown 8x
between 2012 and 2016 to hit $18B
in 2016, underpinned by a huge
expansion of spend in China
▶︎ While regions such as Europe (3x)
and the US (5x) have grown rapidly,
the pace of growth is dramatically
outstripped by the expansion of the
Chinese market, which grew 72x
between 2012 and 2016
▶︎ The market share of European
games publishing companies on iOS
App Store in China has grown from
2.5% to 4.6% between 2014 and
2016, but thanks to the rapid growth
in value of the Chinese market from
$1.1B to $5.5B over this period, this
is actually the equivalent of an
increase in net revenues earned in
China on the iOS App Store from
$27.8M in 2014 to $253.9M, an
increase of 9x in just 2 years
34. “Thomas Chong, an analyst at BOC International,
estimates that Honour of Kings will contribute
more than 50 percent of Tencent’s smartphone
game revenue this year, and that it recorded
monthly gross revenue of 2.8 billion to 3 billion
yuan in April.”
Tencent’s ‘Honour of Kings’ grossed ~$435M in April, an annual runrate of >$5B, according to analysts
33
When games achieve breakout success in China the scale is jaw-dropping
Source: Bloomberg
35. 0%
55%
23%
19%
3%
Share of aggregate value of Top 20
largest games M&A transactions by buyer HQ
% of Value by Buyer Region
Top 20 largest M&A deals by value since 2012 generated $46B in total exit value in the games industry
34
China has also become the most important driver of consolidation
Note: Based on sum of Top 20 largest M&A transactions involving games companies by deal value between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2017
Source: CB Insights
“The Chinese market is
very competitive, so more
companies are now
looking outwards for
growth potential. Also,
for those Chinese
companies which aim to
be global leaders, they’ll
want to bring on board
talent, they’ll want to
get IP.”
Bill Wang
President, Overseas
360 Games
36. 35
China home to the most valuable companies & the largest war chests…
Even excluding Tencent, Chinese games companies account for largest share of public enterprise value
338
70 45
9 8 2
China US Japan Korea Europe Rest of
Asia
Total Enterprise Value (US$B) of public
games companies* by HQ region
72% 15% 9% 2% 2% 0%
% of TEV of Public Games Companies (TEV>$100M)
28
18
9
2 1 0
China Japan US Korea Europe Rest of
Asia
Cash Balance (US$B) of public games
companies* by HQ region
47% 31% 16% 4% 1% 0%
% of Total Cash Balance of Public Games Companies (TEV>$100M)
▶︎ Chinese games companies account for largest share of total
enterprise value created in the public markets
▶︎ As yet, Europe has not delivered huge exits to the public markets
(with the exception of King in 2014)
▶︎ China, US & Japan account for largest share of enterprise value
on public markets
▶︎ Successful games companies are highly cash generative:
the largest public games companies hold $58B in aggregate
cash and short-term investments
▶︎ There are 11 public games companies with more than $1B
in cash, while the Top 10 public games companies control
nearly 80% of aggregate cash of the Games index
Note: Based on games companies with Total Enterprise Value of >$100M
Source: S&P Capital IQ Platform, as of 31 March 2017, For Illustrative Purposes Only
37. …who can leverage their premium multiples to build a global base
Note: Based on a basket of companies for each category
Source: S&P CapitaIQ Platform. as of 31 March 2017, For Illustrative Purposes Only
36
Chinese games companies trade nearly 2x higher on an EV/revenue basis to those from other regions
7.4
4.3
1.8 2.9 3.0
33.3
21.2
9.6
12.9
19.7
China Europe Japan Korea US
Median trading multiples by region
EV/LTM Rev EV/LTM EBITDA
▶︎ Chinese games companies trade at significantly higher multiples
compared to those from other regions
▶︎ This premium creates significant leverage for Chinese companies
actively looking at international acquisitions
“The multiples Chinese
companies are getting on their
local stock markets are higher
than those for companies from
other regions. So there's this
big disconnect or arbitrage
opportunity that works in
favour of China as a
potential consolidator”
Alexis Bonte
CEO
eRepublik Labs
Executive in Residence
Atomico
38. 1,760
1,210
664 650
340 337 312 285 233 217
Top 10 Largest Sales
& Marketing Budgets* (US$M)
79
171
292 256 25562
87
145 170
299
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Number of new mobile
games published per year (,000)
iOS Google Play
1,500 new mobile games are published daily, while the largest companies spend $500M+ per year
Of course, with huge opportunity comes huge competition…
37Note: Sales & Marketing Budgets refers to total company sales & marketing expense in last 12 months
Source: S&P CapitalIQ Platform, as of 31 March 2017, For Illustrative Purposes Only (Sales & Marketing Expense), App Annie (games published per day)
▶︎ The top 10 public games companies spent over $6B in sales
& marketing activities in the last 12 months
▶︎ On average, the largest public games companies are
spending in excess of $500M per year to acquire and
retain customers
389 707 1,197 1,167 1,518
Number of new games published per day
“I say to our team the whole time, we're competing against Netflix,
Amazon Prime, Instagram, Snapchat. You're not competing just
within your vertical anymore, you're competing on the most
competitive media platform in the world, which is the phone.”
Andrew Stalbow, CEO, Seriously
39. China is a daunting market and is seen as the most challenging globally to enter
…not least in China, where outsiders face even greater challenges
38
“It is not that your game is not fun or it is not that
your game cannot work in China from a consumer
perspective, it is from a supply side, from a shelf
space, and I hate to say that, but because mobile
games have shelf space, the ranking is shelf
space, people's attention is shelf space, and
you're just going to get squeezed out unless
you're already a proven game and someone
from the big guys is willing to give it a shot.”
Jayson Chi
Games Industry Expert
▶︎ Competition for Shelf Space
▶︎ Frightening Pace of Change
▶︎ Complex, Fragmented Distribution
▶︎ Unique Local Tastes & Preferences
▶︎ Regulatory ‘Paywall’
▶︎ Piracy and IP
Source: App Annie
40. A NEW ERA OF
COLLABORATION AS
EUROPE MEETS CHINA
41. According to App Annie, 93% of gamer spend on iOS in China goes to games developed in China
40
China is the world’s most ‘localised’ games market
Note: User spend in China refers to iOS only. Data refers to 2016.
Source: App Annie
93%
86%
63%
56%
36%
China (iOS
Only)
Japan Korea United States Europe
% of user spend on ‘home-grown’ games
▶︎ China is the world’s most
localised market,
exceeding both Japan
and Korea in terms of
share of user spend
allocated to local
companies
▶︎ In 2016, 93% of all
revenue from iOS games
in China was generated
by games belonging to
China- headquartered
games companies,
versus 86% in Japan and
63% in Korea
42. Chinese box office & music charts show that there is strong demand for international content and IP
41
Other content categories show these challenges can be overcome…
Top 10 All-Time Highest Grossing Films in China Top 10 All-Time Best-Selling Digital Albums in China
TITLE
RECEIPTS
(US$B)
COUNTRY YEAR
1 The Mermaid 3.4 2016
2 The Fate of the Furious 2.6 2015
3 Monster Hunt 2.4 2015
4 Furious 7 2.4 2016
5 Transformers: Age of Extinction 2.0 2013
6 Kung Fu Yoga 1.8 2014
7 Mojin: The Lost Legend 1.7 2014
8
Journey to the West:
The Demons Strike Back
1.7 2013
9 Lost in Hong Kong 1.6 2015
10 Zootopia 1.5 2017
Source: Wikipedia
TITLE ARTIST
COPIES
(M)
COUNTRY YEAR
1
Guardian: The Lonely
and Great God OST
Various Artists 3.4 2016
2 Growing Wild Li Yuchun 2.6 2016
3 Xplore Lu Han 2.4 2016
4 Reloaded Lu Han 2.4 2015
5 MADE Big Bang 2.0 2016
6 1989 Taylor Swift 1.8 2014
7 Anti Rihanna 1.7 2016
8 Venture Lu Han 1.7 2017
9 E Big Bang 1.6 2015
10 D Big Bang 1.5 2015
43. Collaboration between European and Chinese games companies can unlock enormous value
42
…but it will require a new era of collaboration
“This is an industry that provides very
fertile ground for global cooperation
and global business. But it is also a
challenging one, in which the gaming
culture in Asia's three big markets are all
different from each other, and they're all
different from the west.”
Wilhelm Taht
EVP, Games
Rovio
“You probably need a local partner
and localise the game more than
just the language. I'm not saying it
wouldn't work if you don't, but I
think it's kind of unlikely. You're
better off working with a Chinese
partner and really taking the time
to localise the game for their
specific market”
Teemu Huuhtanen
CEO
Next Games
44. 3 of the Top 10 companies by downloads in Europe and 2 of the Top 10 by revenue were Chinese in 2016
43
Collaboration will drive success not just in China, but internationally
Note: Based on combined revenue and downloads from iOS App Store and Google Play in 2016. Tencent numbers exclude Supercell.
Source: App Annie
Top 10 Companies
by Game Downloads in Europe, 2016
Top 10 Companies
by Game Revenue in Europe, 2016
COMPANY HQ COUNTRY
1 Electronic Arts
2 Tencent
3 Outfit7
4 Supercell
5 Activision Blizzard
6 Ubisoft
7 Doodle Mobile
8 Cheetah Mobile
9 Vivendi
10 Rovio
COMPANY HQ COUNTRY
1 Supercell
2 Activision Blizzard
3 MZ
4 Electronic Arts
5 Niantic
6 Elex Technology
7 IGG
8 GAMEVIL
9 Zynga
10 Playrix
45. There is a huge opportunity to unlock the next great milestone and reach a billion gamers
Whoever gets this right will build the first gamer base of 1B+ MAU
44
“If you look in other consumer
technology categories such as
social or utility apps, we’ve seen a
select few grow to more than one
billion users. It hasn’t happened
in games yet, but we believe it’s
just a matter of time”
Mattias Ljungman
Partner
Atomico
“Games have become truly
mass-market and it's a massive,
massive opportunity that's only
going to get bigger. One of these
days somebody’s going to build
a game that reaches a billion
users a month”
Ilkka Paananen
CEO
Supercell
46.
47. 1. Company and app rankings are based on the download, revenue and usage estimates
available through App Annie Intelligence.
2. Revenue rankings are based on revenue that the iOS App Store and Google Play earned
from paid downloads and in-app purchases. They do not include revenue earned from
in-app advertising.
3. Top companies in Games are ranked by downloads and revenue in the Games category
only while top publishers in Apps are ranked by downloads and revenue in categories
outside of Games.
4. Download rankings are based on individually downloaded apps and exclude app downloads
when included in bundles. Revenue rankings are based on download revenue from
individually downloaded paid apps as well as in-app purchase revenue from both individually
downloaded apps and app bundles.
5. For publishers acquired by another company, downloads and revenue is attributed to the new
parent company from the start of the calendar month after the acquisition occurred.
6. Occasionally, a publisher may decide to shift an existing app from one category to another
category. In these cases, the App Annie ranks that app based on its app store categorization
at the time of writing.
7. Download and revenue rankings in this report are based on unified apps made possible by
App Annie’s exclusive DNA. In unified apps, similar versions of the same app with different
names and on different platforms are unified. For example, Fruit Ninja and Fruit Ninja Free on
iOS, and Fruit Ninja and Fruit Ninja Free for Android on Google Play are all aggregated and
ranked as a single Fruit Ninja unified app.
8. Company and app rankings are based on the current and historical App Annie DNA
relationships as of the time of writing. App Annie DNA relationships are subject to change over
time.
9. In the event that a unified app in the top downloads and revenue app rankings is connected to
multiple companies, we selected one company to be represented in the ranking. For top
company rankings, each app directly connected to a company contributed to that company’s
rank. For instance, Tencent’s version of Candy Crush Saga contributed to Tencent’s ranking.
10. In App Annie's rankings, all apps and publishers are reported under their parent companies,
where available; for example, the Minecraft - Pocket Edition app is reported under its parent
publisher Microsoft, rather than its direct publisher Mojang. Note that if you view the Microsoft
parent publisher page on Store Stats, you will see the publishers that roll under the parent
publisher Microsoft, including Mojang. The Minecraft - Pocket Edition app will be listed under
the Mojang publisher page.
11. In Google Play, an app can be categorized under only one category, so
there is no double-categorization.
12. App Annie Intelligence is currently available for the iOS App Store and Google Play. It does
not currently provide estimates for other app stores, such as the Amazon Appstore. While iOS
and Google Play represent a significant portion of the app market in many countries, that is
not the case for some countries. For example, China has a number of sizable third-party
Android app store.
App Annie methodology
46