Earlier this month My.Games, a branch of LSE-listed Mail.ru Group, and its associated investment vehicle MGCV, announced “a strategic agreement” with Pizza Club Games, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN).

MGVC is investing $1.5mn in this US-based studio launched a year ago, along with “comprehensive support in scaling the business, including marketing, game design, employee recruitment and product analytics.”

The studio expects to increase its staff and “receive invaluable marketing support from one of the leading mobile game/hyper-casual publishers,” as stated in My.Games’ press release.

“At a certain stage in the development of the studio, we faced a challenging task – to find an investor with deep expertise in the mobile games industry who could help us scale the project,” said Pizza Club Games co-founder and CEO Daniel Hunnicutt. 

The entrepreneur sees in MGVC “professionals who understand not only product specifics and the market, but also the needs of the studio in terms of the resources necessary for further successful growth.”

Raid Boss, the studio’s first project, is touted as “a unique project in the hero collection RPG genre, combining character management with tactical real-time battles.” Currently in early access on Android, it will also be available for iOS “in the near future”, while new game mechanics, such as multiplayer and PvP components, will be developed. 

Gaming buying spree 

This is not the first time Mail.ru Group has demonstrated its appetite for gaming companies. Since September last year My.Games and MGVC have acquired stakes in Belarusian Mamboo Games as well as Russian Deus Craft and Reaction Games. 

They also teamed up with Finland’s Aii Corporation to invest in Hypemasters, a studio founded by a Russian team but headquartered in the US.

Nikita Matsokin, executive producer of MGVC, presented the latest deal with Pizza Club Games as “another step in expanding MY.GAMES’ presence in the US market.”

Gaming accounts for nearly half of Mail.ru Group’s revenue. This activity generated some $472mn in 2019 and probably even more in 2020 as a result of the traction of online games during the pandemic. A part of the $600mn raised in October 2020 by the group in GDRs and bonds is dedicated to support acquisitions in this field, reported The Bell.

According to unconfirmed media reports, Mail.ru Group is considering introducing its gaming business on a US stock exchange. 

 

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This article first appeared in East-West Digital News, a partner of bne IntelliNews