Riot Games Acquires Radiant

MARCH 10, 2016 • Riot Games has acquired Los Altos, Calif.-based Radiant Entertainment for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition is the first for Riot. Radiant was founded in 2013 by brothers Tom and Tony Cannon. Their first title is the crowdfunded town building simulation game, Stonehearth, which is still in alpha. Also in alpha was Radiant’s second project, the free-to-play fighting game Rising Thunder. Although production of Stonehearth will continue, Ri.....

Activision Blizzard Spends Big On King

NOV. 3, 2015 • Activision Blizzard is spending $5.9 billion ($18 per share) to acquire all outstanding shares of Dublin, Ireland-based Candy Crush Saga creator King Digital Entertainment. Of the total, $3.6 billion is cash that Activision Blizzard has parked outside the United States. The remainder is made up by a loan fronted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs Bank. The a.....

Zapak Strengthens China Ties

SEPT. 29, 2015 • Zapak Mobile Games Private Ltd, a division of India’s Reliance Entertainment, has sealed two agreements to pursue several China-related endeavors. The first saw an Rs 989 million ($15 million) investment by Lead Eastern Investment Co., Ltd. based in Datong, China. Th.....

Venture Capital, Mitch Lasky & Outpost

SEPT. 3, 2015 • Outpost Games, Inc. secured $6.2 million in funding from Benchmark back in July. The startup has plans to release PC games that incorporate a built-in platform for users to broadcast their in-game exploits to the web. Leading Benchmark’s investment was games industry veteran Mitch Lasky. The former publisher executive has been a partner in the Redwood City-based venture capital firm since 2007 and was instrumental in previously backing both.....

Van Caneghem Goes Mobile

MAY 28, 2015 • Best known as the co-creator of the Heroes of Might & Magic franchise, and more recently co-founding Trion Worlds, Inc., Jon Van Caneghem has launched his latest studio: VC Mobile Ent. The new development operation has already secured $4.5 million in Series A funding led by Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Pacific Sky Investments. The studio was launched in 2014 in stealth mode with work already in progress on its first yet-to-be-named title set fo.....

Sony Unloads Sony Online Eentertainment

FEB. 2, 2015 • With a projected ¥230 billion ($2 billion) loss looming for the fiscal year ending March 31, Sony Corporation has sold its Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) business to Columbus Nova. Financial terms were not disclosed. In December 2010, Columbus Nova set up Harmonix-SBE Holdings to acquire Harmonix Music Systems from Viacom Inc. in December 2010. In that deal, Harmonix-SBE Holdings paid $50 and assumed $100 million in Harmonix liabilities. Viacom .....