Zynga has entered into an agreement to acquire Rollic, the Istanbul-based hyper-casual mobile game developer and publisher behind games like Go Knots 3D and Tangle Master 3D.
The deal is expected to close on October 1, 2020 and will see Zynga spending $168 million in exchange for 80 percent of Rollic. The remaining 20 percent will then be purchased over the next three years in, according to a press release, “equal installments at valuations based on specific profitability goals.”
Though Zynga has made a name for itself in the mobile games space, the deal marks the company’s first steps into the hyper-casual game market, a corner of the mobile games space where Rollic has already claimed 250 million downloads, 5 million daily active users, and 65 million monthly active users across its entire game portfolio.
“We are excited to expand into the hyper-casual category with the acquisition of Rollic, one of the fastest growing hyper-casual developers and publishers worldwide in 2020, led by an incredibly creative team,” reads a statement from Zynga CEO Frank Gibeau.. “With Rollic, we are meaningfully growing our audience, expanding and diversifying our global advertising business, and adding to our game pipeline and developer network. Zynga and Rollic are well-positioned to grow faster together.”