According to a Reuters report, the gambling software maker Playtech has sold YoYo Games for $10 million to Opera Software, the maker of the Opera web browser. The Dundee, Scotland-based software development company is the creator of GameMaker Studio. This follows after Yoyo Games’ previous owner Playtech purchased the company for $16.4 million six years ago.
Playtech released an update regarding the sale, stating the sale was a part of its strategic overhaul that focuses on streamlining its business and disposing of “non-core assets.”
“Playtech has previously stated that it is a strategic focus of the Company to simplify its business and dispose of non-core assets,” reads the update. “It is pleased to announce that it has now completed the sale of YoYo Games, part of the discontinued Casual and Social Gaming business, for a consideration of approximately USD 10 million.”
Oslo-based Opera Software, well known for its Opera web browsers, confirmed that YoYo Games’ general manager Stuart Poole and its Russel Kay, CTO, will remain with the company. With this acquisition, Playtech has surrendered all of its’ casual and social gaming assets’. Opera will use YoYo Games’ expertise in software and games development to create its own games division, Opera Games.
“With Opera GX, Opera had adapted its proven, innovative browser tech platform to dramatically expand its footprint in gaming,” Krystian Kolondra, EVP Browsers at Opera, commented in a press release. “We’re at the brink of a shift when more and more people start not only playing but also creating and publishing games. GameMaker Studio 2 is best-in-class game development software, and lowers the barrier to entry for anyone to start making their games and offer them across a wide range of web-supported platforms, from PCs to mobile iOS/Android devices, to consoles.”
When asked for comments, Poole said: “For over twenty years, the vision behind the GameMaker engine was to not just create more games but expand development within and beyond the game studio. We think the transaction with Opera represents a massive opportunity to accelerate the fulfillment of that founding vision, during a period of exceptional growth for both companies.”
Playtech initially bought YoYo Games in 2015 for $16.4 million. By then, the studio introduced an education game, GameMaker Studio 2, and ventured into publishing in 2018.
However, just one year later, the publishing arm was shut down, which exerted a lot of strain on YoYo Games’ resources. Since then, the company revised its strategy and was actively looking to dispose of its casual and social gaming assets. The acquisition of YoYo Games by Opera Software is a part of it.
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