Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games acquires Scopely for $4.9bn

Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games acquires Scopely for $4.9bn

Savvy Gaming Group, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), has agreed to acquire mobile games studio Scopely for $4.9bn, a deal that is expected to strengthen the gaming and e-sports developer global position. Founded in 2011, Scopely is known for several popular mobile games including Yahtzee With Buddies, Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Force, Stumble Guys and Scrabble Go. The company has grown over the years with a number of notable acquisitions including Disney’s FoxNext Games in 2020 and the acquisition of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s GSN Games for $1bn in 2021. “Scopely is one of the fastest-growing games companies today and we have long admired their ability to build loyal, engaged player communities,” said Brian Ward, CEO of Savvy Games Group. Ward added that Savvy plans to further accelerate Scopely’s ambitions by working together with the company’s “talented team of developers, designers and publishers to create innovative and exciting new products for the gaming community across the world.” Savvy said Scopely will operate as an “autonomous company” under its umbrella, which includes esports companies ESL and Faceit and Swedish gaming firm Embracer. The company will continue to be led by co-CEOs Walter Driver and Javier Ferreira. Scopely