Online gaming company Nazara Technologies has acquired UK-based PC and console game publisher Curve Games for Rs 247 crore (£21.7 million), marking its biggest international acquisition to date as it seeks to strengthen its presence in the global gaming market.
Online gaming company Nazara Technologies on Tuesday said it has acquired UK-based PC and console game publisher Curve Games for Rs 247 crore. The deal marks its biggest international acquisition to date.The move is a part of Mumbai-based Nazara’s strategy to strengthen its presence in the global gaming market and gives it complete ownership of Curve, which has a strong portfolio of indie games such as Human Fall Flat, For the King, and Lawn Mowing Simulator. These titles have collectively clocked over 100 million downloads globally.
“Today, one of our key focus areas is the core gaming business. Today, Nazara is in the gaming, esports and adtech business. But going forward, a lot of our capital allocation is going to happen on core gaming businesses in terms of gaming studios, gaming IPs, and publishing,” Nazara’s chief executive officer, Nitish Mittersain, told ET. “This (acquisition) is in tune with that policy.”
Nazara is looking to diversify beyond mobile gaming into the more lucrative PC and console segments, valued at over $100 billion globally.
Mittersain said there’s a “big India opportunity here as we are seeing a lot of Indian developers building a lot of games on PC platforms. Now, with Curve, Nazara can become a bridge for developers to publish their games at a global level”.
In 2024, Curve had reported revenue of Rs 263.5 crore and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of Rs 114.4 crore.
“Joining the Nazara family is an exciting new chapter for Curve. Nazara’s ecosystem, access to emerging markets and long-term orientation maķes it a strong strategic partner. We are aligned in our vision of building a leading global indie publishing platform, and we look forward to the next phase of growth together,” said Stuart Dinsey, executive chairman of Curve Games.
ET had reported last month that Nazara has earmarked Rs 800–1,000 crore this year to fuel inorganic growth, particularly targeting global gaming studios with established intellectual properties, strong teams, and annual revenue of around Rs 100 crore.
In August 2024, Nazara acquired UK-based gaming studio Fusebox Games for Rs 228 crore in an all-cash transaction.
Other notable acquisitions include Moonshine Technology, Comic Con India, marketing firm Publishme, which focuses on West Asia and Turkey, Singapore-based events company Branded, Turkish esports firm Ninja Global, and Paper Boat Apps, the creator of Kiddopia.
On Tuesday, Nazara’s shares closed more than 2% higher on the BSE at Rs 1,295.1.
Source: Economic Times