Microsoft to buy Activision in US$68.7 billion all-cash deal

The BIGGEST DEAL EVER IN TECH INDUSTRY

•  Microsoft will buy video game giant Activision Blizzard in a US$68.7 billion all-cash deal, the biggest deal ever in the tech industry
• Microsoft said it expects to close the deal in its fiscal 2023. However, U.S. regulators will be far more aggressive in evaluating large acquisitions, so there’s a chance the deal dies under government review
• The deal also plays into a long-term vision for Microsoft as it competes with Meta to build technologies to create a virtual world
• Microsoft has gotten more aggressive with gaming over the past several years. It bought Minecraft maker Mojang for US$2.5 billion in 2014. And last year, Microsoft completed a US$7.5 billion acquisition of game maker Bethesda

• Insight:

1. With the deal, Microsoft now is the third largest gaming company by revenue, after Tencent & Sony
2. Activision Blizzard has found it more challenging to commit resources to games outside of the Call of Duty brand
3. Activision struggled to attract the senior developers due to recent headline: Toxic work environment
4. Blizzard is forced to delay the release of Diablo Immortal, Diablo 4, and Overwatch 2 due to an equally hostile work environment
5. The offer from Microsoft was incredibly attractive at 45% premium over the stock price
6. Selling could give current ownership, including CEO Bobby Kotick, something of a consolation; They can get a big payday by selling a company that is on a downward trend
7. As one of the major game competitor of Microsoft, Sony’s stock dropped after the deal, the decline once expanded to 13%

 ByteDance overhauls investment teams amid fears of China deal limits

CHINA TECH CRACKDOWN CONTINUED

•  While Bytedance is disbanding its internal venture capital and investing team that backs startups, another team targeting companies that can help ByteDance’s businesses is being overhauled
• Under new guidelines being developed by the Cyberspace Administration of China, companies that serve more than 100 million users or have over US$1.5 billion in revenue need to get regulatory approval before any investment or fundraising
• Companies such as Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group, Meituan, Didi Global, and Baidu could also be affected by this regulation

Jack Ma’s Ant Group implicated in corruption scandal by Chinese state media

CHINA TECH CRACKDOWN CONTINUED

•  China’s state broadcaster has implicated Jack Ma’s Ant Group in a corruption scandal, ratcheting up pressure on the billionaire following a crackdown that has wiped billions of dollars from his internet empire
•  A documentary on state-run China Central Television alleged that private companies made “unreasonably high payments” to the brother of the former Chinese Communist party head of Hangzhou, in return for government policy incentives and support with buying real estate
• Last week, Ant suffered a setback to its government-led reform efforts after a state-owned asset manager pulled out of a deal to invest in the fintech’s lending arm without explanation

Tencent's Level Infinite announced new mobile shooting MMO AVATAR: Reckoning

NEW GAME PRODUCT

•   The new mobile shooting MMO game was developed by Zilong Game and produced with Unreal Engine 4 based on famous IP: Avatar
• The overseas publishing will be in charged by Tencent's new distribution brand Level Infinite
• The game will be launched in 2022
• Level Infinite invested in Polish independent game developer - THE Parasight in Jan 22. The Parasight is developing a open world game: BLACKTAIL

  New Mobile Hero Collection Game 'Awaken: Chaos Era' Officially Release! 

NEW GAME PRODUCT - SEA

•  Awaken: Chaos Era is a new mobile RPG with hero collection card game, published by Century Games Publishing, officially release for both AOS and IOS devices this week
• The game has pretty 3D graphic with cinematic style visuals, with unique hero skills and abilities, PvE as well as PvP features
• Players could collect as many heroes as they can, upgrade their level and items, put their own best strategy in the battlefield, exploring dungeons, fight tough bosses and track down heroes to gain bounty rewards

Riot Games sues app maker over alleged 'League of Legends' ripoff

ALL FOUNDER & KEY MEMBERS ARE EX-VNG

•  Riot Games Inc, the maker of the popular video game "League of Legends," has accused a Vietnam-based mobile app developer of copying from its game and infringing its copyrights
• Riot said Imba Technology Co Ltd's "I Am Hero: AFK Tactical Teamfight" lifts characters, text, and other features from "League of Legends,"

Niko Partners: Big Middle East countries will hit 85.8M players/US$3.1B in revenues by 2025

MENA MARKET

•  Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Egypt together will have 85.8 million gamers generating US$3.1 billion in games revenue by 2025
• Saudi Arabia’s games market alone reached US$1 billion in 2021
• MENA-3 games revenue was US$1.76 billion in 2021, rising to $3.14 billion in 2025 at a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.8%
• MENA-3 gamers reached 65.32 million in 2021; Nearly half of the MENA population is under 25 years old
• Governments in the MENA region are supportive of the video game sector
• High spending markets: Saudi Arabia and UAE/ Lower spending market: Egypt
•  Insight

1. Saudi Arabia is the biggest market in MENA by Game Revenue with highest spending power
2. The UAE is representative of smaller Gulf states. Arabic is the official language, yet the population is predominately expatriates
3. Egypt is an emerging games market with an active and competitive gaming community and MENA-3’s largest market by gamers
4. Growth will be driven by higher spending per user, additional government support across games and esports, and more gamers entering the market

Animoca Brands raises US$358.8M at US$5B valuation for NFT games and open metaverse

VALUATION DOUBLED TO US$5B

•  Animoca Brands has raised a new round of funding — the fourth time since May — and this time the company has scooped up US$358.8888 million at a US$5 billion premoney valuation
• Animoca Brands is working to build the open metaverse by bringing digital property rights to online users through the use of blockchain and NFTs
• Some of the company’s major blockchain game projects include The Sandbox and its associated utility token SAND, the upcoming Phantom Galaxies triple-A blockchain third-person shooter, the REVV token ecosystem (REVV Racing, F1 Delta Time, MotoGPfIgnition, and Formula E: High Voltage), the Arc8 platform and its Gamee utility token
• Animoca Brands was one of the earliest companies to adopt a blockchain gaming strategy in 2018, starting with a belief that NFTs would be adopted in games

Funtap launches a US$10 million blockchain fund

VN NFT GAMES FUND FOR START-UPS

•  Funverse Capital will write checks of up to US$1 million to NFT games and blockchain-focused startups for each project
• It will also offer mentorship and accelerator programs, where participants can leverage Funtap’s network of 42 million users worldwide

Moonton launches Mobile Legends: Bang Bang NFTs on Binance

MOONTON’S FIRST NFT COLLECTION

•  The NFT collection includes two MLBB characters, Fanny and Layla, and will offer 12 unique mystery boxes that each contain a digital figure and exclusive character animations
• MLBB has reached over one billion downloads worldwide and maintains a consistent player base of 100 MAU