PlayTech buys YoYo Games for £10m

Posted by Glen on Feb. 16, 2015, 11:32 a.m.

"Game and multimedia software company Playtech said Monday it will acquire Yoyo Games Limited, developer of the popular cross-platform game dev tool GameMaker Studio."

"Playtech said it would buy Yoyo for $16.4 million, with a possible additional $5.25 million paid out."

Sources:

http://www.develop-online.net/opinions/playtech-buys-gamemaker-creator-yoyo-games-for-10m/0203202

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/236574/GameMaker_Studio_creator_acquired_for_164_million.php

Never heard of PlayTech. Does anyone see this being beneficial to Game Maker or not?

Comments

Astryl 9 years, 7 months ago

Ugh, Playtech, creators of most of the shitty "online casino" games that plague the internet.

Jani_Nykanen 9 years, 7 months ago

That cannot be good. Even the name 'PlayTech' sounds somehow evil.

Quote:
Ugh, Playtech, creators of most of the shitty "online casino" games that plague the internet.
Maybe we'll get 'Casino Maker: Studio', an easy tool to make virtual casino games that will steal people's money and download viruses to their computers?

DesertFox 9 years, 7 months ago

I do not see a happy future in this :<

Glen 9 years, 7 months ago

Hi Cyrus.

I wonder if Yoyo Games will continue to develop Game Maker with their own goals/schedule or maybe PlayTech has a different vision. I find it strange that Yoyo Games wanted to be bought out in the first place.

Jani_Nykanen 9 years, 7 months ago

Quote:
I find it strange that Yoyo Games wanted to be bought out in the first place.
Well, over 16 million dollars is a lot of money. I found it strange when Finnish game company Supercell was sold to that Japanese company whose name I currently do not remember. Money controls the world, unfortunately.

death 9 years, 7 months ago

Well.. this is disappointing. I was really trying to be optimistic about YYG all this time but there's been plenty of signs that show they were leaning more towards the "let's make money" side instead of "let's make great software" philosophy that we all wanted from them. I'm no longer surprised by these things after the whole Notch buyout. It seems no company, studio or individual is going to turn down money in exchange for their IP.

LAR Games 9 years, 7 months ago

I've got a bad feeling. Same feeling I had when Yoyo Games acquired Game Maker.

Quietus 9 years, 7 months ago

I've always hated YoYo Games so much because of their price gouging business strategy, which has clearly lost to Unity's fast growing popularity. They have brought us good things, mainly exporting to other platforms, but always at ridiculous prices to hobbyist developers.

Game Maker's reputation, and worth, has been enhanced by the success of games like Spelunky and Hotline Miami. If Playtech bought Game Maker to penetrate the casual game market, it doesn't really make sense to limit it to *only* casual games. It is development software, and products made by Game Maker can appeal to a lot more people than just gamblers. At least, I hope that's their angle. It remains to be seen.

The fact is, Game Maker really isn't adapted for the casual market. And that's where all the money is now. If Playtech can make it easier to distribute onto mobile platforms, it would be a lot easier to make money with a game maker game. And that would be good business for everyone. Of course this may just be wishful thinking, but I can't see how Playtech could ruin Game Maker more than YoYo Games already has.

Also, hi Glen lol.

nap 9 years, 7 months ago

I'm not surprised by this. I think hel is right about Unity being much more successful recently. My curiosity is how they will honor people who paid for the export modules. I am certainly glad that I didn't.

Also I have a feeling that they bought it for their own use in developing casino games as it is probably the best for it. Perhaps they wanted a few more features or a bit more wiggle room and decided they could just buy the whole thing to achieve it. If this is the case I doubt they will improve the program in any other way.

Cpsgames 9 years, 7 months ago

I see nothing but dark things in the future. That said I don't really use Game Maker anymore so I'm not too worried.