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Today saw a huge deal in the mobile gaming space as Zynga acquired the Istanbul-based Peak for $1.8bn. Peak has two key titles, Toy Blast and Toon Blast, both of which have ranked highly in the charts in recent years.
Zynga told MCV/DEVELOP only recently that it was looking to make more major acquisitions. “We are sitting on a lot of cash. Our goal is to continue to put that cash to good use,” said Bernard Kim, president of publishing.
The deal is the company’s largest to date, with Zynga estimating that it will boost its Daily Active Users by some sixty per cent, with the two titles having an average of 12m DAUs at present. The purchase is being made with $900m in cash and $900m in Zynga stock.
Peak was founded in 2010 by Sidar Sahin and has become a huge player in the Match-3 genre. The deal follows a previous arrangement, where Zynga purchased the rights to a handful of Peak’s mobile card games back in 2017. A deal that seems to have worked out for all concerned.
“We are honored to welcome Sidar and team to Zynga. Peak is one of the world’s best puzzle game makers and we could not be more excited to add such creative and passionate talent to our company,” said Frank Gibeau, Chief Executive Officer of Zynga. “With the addition of Toon Blast and Toy Blast, we are expanding our live services portfolio to eight forever franchises, meaningfully increasing our global audience base and adding to our exciting new game pipeline. As a combined team, we are well positioned to grow faster together.”
“This is a monumental partnership not only for Zynga and Peak, but for the whole mobile gaming industry,” said Sidar Sahin, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Peak. “Both companies share a common vision — to bring people together through games. Peak’s culture is rooted in relentless learning and progress, so as we embark on this new chapter in our journey together with Zynga, we remain as committed as ever to our unique culture. We’re very excited for our combined future and what we will accomplish together.”
