VC-backed Indian game developer bought by Swedish strategic
Indian game studio PlaySimple has been acquired for about $360 million by Sweden’s Modern Times Group (MTG), setting up exits for Elevation Capital and Chiratae Ventures.
PlaySimple is recognized as one of India's leading gaming companies targeting the global social-casual games market, especially English-speaking countries. It has more than 75 million installs and seven million monthly active users and 1.9 million daily active users.
The company specializes in word games, with several successful titles including Daily Themed Crossword, Word Trip, Word Jam, and Word Wars. About 80% of the user base is female. There are plans to branch into card games, with two of four pipeline developments in that category.
Revenue is said to have improved 144% during the 2020 calendar year to about $83 million, while adjusted EBITDA reached $18 million. For the first half of 2021, revenue and EBITDA are projected to be $60-64 million and $17-18 million, respectively, amounting to year-on-year gains of 82% and 140%.
Chiratae invested in PlaySimple as early as 2014, according to AVCJ Research. Elevation claims to have backed the company since it had only two game titles and annual revenue was $5 million. The two VC firms are said to have invested as little as $4 million combined in the company.
“An experienced management team and focused, data driven operating model has allowed PlaySimple to develop multiple game hits especially popular with the growing global audience of female gamer,” Maria Redin, CEO of MTG said in a statement.
“PlaySimple’s ad-tech and cross-promotion competences, which have played a pivotal role in their own journey, can in time allow us to accelerate the growth of our whole gaming vertical. Expanding our geographical footprint into the Indian subcontinent will also provide access to one of the best talent pools in the world.”
MTG started out as Scandinavia’s first commercial TV channel in 1987 and began transitioning into a gaming company with the acquisition, a German sports gaming company, in 2014. PlaySimple is its third acquisition since December 2020.
MTG will pay 77% of the consideration for PlaySimple in cash up front and 23% in shares that will be subject to lock-up for up to 24 months. There is also a cash earn-out component based on PlaySimple’s financial performance in 2021-2025 and payable over the same period. The total earn-out is estimated at $150 million.
India’s online gaming space is attracting increasing international attention in both the casual and competitive categories. Earlier this week, Winzo, which operates across pool, card games, and fantasy sports, received a $65 million round led by a US gaming investor. For many apps in this space, upside is balanced by regulatory risks related to local anti-gambling rules.
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