The mobile gaming world has just witnessed one of its most transformative deals: London-based Tripledot Studios is acquiring AppLovin’s gaming portfolio for $800 million. The hybrid transaction involves Tripledot paying AppLovin $400 million in cash — $150 million upfront and a $250 million promissory note — while transferring a 20% minority stake in Tripledot.
The deal values Tripledot at $2 billion — remarkable for a company founded in 2017. But this transaction transcends mere numbers. Its scale and cross-border nature have caught regulators’ attention, particularly in Europe. The combined entity, with twelve studios and 25 million daily active users, faces scrutiny from antitrust authorities in the EU, the US, and Asia. While approval might not come until summer 2025, both companies remain confident.
Tripledot and its meteoric rise, from startup to industry heavyweight
Founded by Lior Shiff, Akin Babayigit, and Eyal Chameides, Tripledot achieved profitability in its second year and earned recognition as Europe’s fastest-growing company from the Financial Times in 2023. Its success stems from a data-driven approach to casual and puzzle games, using machine learning to enhance player engagement and retention.
This acquisition marks Tripledot’s boldest move yet. By incorporating ten new studios and 2,500 employees, it instantly joins the world’s top five independent mobile game studios by revenue. The expanded portfolio offers both breadth, spanning hyper-casual to mid-core strategy and social simulation, and stability, with no single game exceeding 10% of revenue.
The company’s ambitions extend beyond mobile. With titles like Mobile Strike and Project Makeover now in its portfolio, Tripledot is exploring cross-platform opportunities, including PC gaming, a market worth $6.6 billion and growing.
For AppLovin, this sale represents a strategic pivot rather than a retreat. While its gaming division has underperformed, the company’s ad tech business is thriving, with Q1 2025 revenues reaching $1.16 billion—a 71% year-over-year increase.
AppLovin initially acquired game studios to train its AXON AI models for its advertising platform. As CEO, Adam Foroughi, explains, “We’ve never been a game developer at heart.” The sale’s timing follows AppLovin’s unsuccessful bid for TikTok’s non-China assets, allowing the company to focus on social media ad monetisation through its AI-powered campaigns for platforms like TikTok and Meta. Investors have endorsed this strategy, driving AppLovin’s stock up 13% and quadrupling its market cap over the past year.
Integration: opportunity or a challenge?
Integrating 2,500 employees across seventeen cities presents a significant challenge for Tripledot. The company must harmonise its London-based, data-first culture with diverse Silicon Valley-rooted teams from Machine Zone and Magic Tavern. While talent retention is crucial, especially as competitors like Miniclip and Playtika step up recruitment, Tripledot’s existing global presence in Warsaw, Barcelona, Jakarta, and beyond provides valuable experience in managing distributed teams.
The acquired studios bring impressive credentials. Lion Studios has created viral hits like Hexa Sort and Wordle!, while PeopleFun’s Wordscapes attracts 10 million daily active users. Machine Zone contributes strategy blockbusters Mobile Strike and Game of War, Belka Games adds narrative-driven puzzles like Clockmaker, and Magic Tavern’s Project Makeover draws 5 million monthly users.
This deal occurs amid widespread industry consolidation. Q1 2025 set a record with $6.6 billion in gaming M&A, including Scopely’s $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic’s games division and Miniclip’s $1.2 billion Easybrain purchase. For Tripledot, scale serves dual purposes: enabling cross-promotion and efficient user acquisition during declining global mobile downloads (down 6% year-over-year) and rising advertising costs. The company’s rise also highlights Europe’s renewed strength in mobile gaming.
With this acquisition, Tripledot joins the ranks of Rovio and Supercell. Supported by EU digital single-market policies that simplify cross-border operations, it stands ready to compete with Asian giants like Tencent and NetEase.
