Nazara to acquire Middle Eastern game publisher Publishme

Nazara Technologies Limited an India based, diversified gaming, gamified learning and sports media company today announced that it has signed a binding term sheet to acquire a majority stake in Arrakis Tanitim Organizasyon Pazarlama San. Tic. Ltd. Sti. (Publishme) the largest mobile game publishing agency in the Middle East and Turkey. Nazara will invest an approx. amount of Rs. 20 Cr for acquiring 69.82% stake by way of primary and secondary transaction through its subsidiary.

Publishme is a full-service games marketing and publishing agency which works extensively with gaming publishers in Turkey and the MENA region. Nazara’s offerings are already present in India and across emerging and developed global markets such as Africa and North America. With this acquisition, Nazara expands its international footprint in the freemium segment. Nazara will aim to build local execution capabilities cutting across key growth segments namely, freemium, gamified learning and esports.

Publishme CEO Özgür Özalp says, “We are delighted to join Nazara and lead the company’s foray in the MENA region. MENA is one of the fastest growing gaming markets, with an estimated market size of $4.8bn and has over 160mn gamers in the region (of which 100mn are mobile gamers). Our alliance with Nazara offers a unique blend of network, global reach and local capabilities to further the growth of the gaming industry in the region. With this, Publishme, will become a full-fledged publisher in the MENA region.”

Says Nazara Founder & Jt MD, Nitish Mittersain “MENA is a key geography for us and this acquisition will help us in establishing ourselves as a key player in the region. We are excited to have someone with deep regional knowledge and capabilities like Özgür and his team join the ‘Friends of Nazara’ network”

The ‘Friends of Nazara’ network comprises of established gaming companies in which Nazara holds majority stakes and works actively with existing founders and management teams to rapidly achieve scale. These companies include Nodwin Gaming and SportsKeeda in esports. Next Wave Multimedia, developer of World Cricket Championship (WCC), the largest mobile-based cricket simulation game and Paper Boat Apps, developers of the popular gamified learning app Kiddopia.