Scopely Raises $200M in Funding to Expand Games Portfolio

The Series D round was led by firm NewView Capital and will fund the mobile game company's mergers and acquisitions and investment strategy.

Culver City-based mobile game developer and publisher Scopely has secured $200 million in a round of Series D financing led by NewView Capital, with participation from Canada Pension Plan Investment Boardand Baillie Gifford, among others. Existing investors in the company — Greycroft Partners, Revolution Growth and Sands Capital Ventures — were also among the investors in the recent round of funding.

Scopely will use the new funds to accelerate its mergers and acquisitions strategy and investment strategy, expanding into new game genres and IP. 

The company has seen significant growth in 2019, crossing the $1 billion mark in lifetime revenue and leasing 60,000 square feet of office space in Culver City, more than doubling its current footprint in the area. In May, Scopely acquired DIGIT Game Studios, the Dublin-based developer that created the company's Star Trek Fleet Command title (which is the fastest-growing game in Scopely's history, hitting $100 million in revenue in July), and in September announced its expansion into the Asia-Pacific market, hiring former Walt Disney Company exec Justin Scarpone to build a presence for the company in Japan.

"This funding round adds the financial support to pursue large-scale acquisition opportunities,” said Scopely co-CEO Walter Driver. 

Alongside Star Trek Fleet Command, Scopely's current roster of games includes licensed titles from franchises and brands such as Looney Tunes, The Walking Dead, WWE, Yahtzee and Wheel of Fortune. 

"We’ve been longtime supporters of Scopely since our initial seed investment, and we continue to be incredibly impressed by their momentum," Greycroft partner Mark Terbeek said.

The mobile gaming market continues to grow. Market research firm Newzoo predicts that, globally, mobile gaming will generate $68.5 billion in 2019, a 10 percent increase year over year. Meanwhile, Nielsen's SuperData reported last week that mobile gaming now makes up 59 percent of the total worldwide video game market share.

Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com