Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive will acquire New York City-based casual mobile game developer Playdots for $192 million.
Playdots was founded in 2013 and led by chief executive Nir Efrat, who joined the company in March 2018 after serving as head of franchises and studios for Activision Blizzard-owned mobile gaming company King. While at King, Efrat oversaw game development across the country’s five international offices.
Playdots’ most popular game is the free-to-play “Two Dots,” a casual phone puzzle game that’s been downloaded over 80 million times on the App Store and Google Play since it launched six years ago, the company said.
Take-Two already owns five studios including Private Division, Rockstar Games, 2K, Ghost Story Games and mobile game developer Socialpoint. Rockstar Games developed the blockbuster “Grand Theft Auto” and “Red Dead Redemption” games and their online spin-offs, while Ghost Story Games created the “Bioshock” series. 2K is known for its simulated sports games, including the upcoming “NBA 2K21” and “WWE Battlegrounds.”
The acquisition of Playdots marks Take-Two’s second investment into mobile gaming in recent years and is expected to close next quarter.
Efrat and Playdots’ roughly 70 employees will now focus on developing games for Take-Two’s mobile audience, and Playdots said in a statement it “has a robust development pipeline with a number of innovative puzzle games planned for launch over the coming years.”
The sizable audience addition is one motivating factor for Take-Two’s buy of Playdots — which reports its three games have been downloaded over 100 million times since the company’s launch seven years ago.
“Our acquisition of Playdots will diversify and strengthen further Take-Two’s mobile game offerings, particularly within the casual, free-to-play segment,” Take-Two Interactive head of strategy and independent publishing Michael Worosz said in a statement Tuesday. “We are very pleased to welcome Nir and the entire team at Playdots to the Take-Two family and are excited by the potential of their development pipeline and positive, long-term contributions to our business.”
Take-Two recently posted a record-breaking first quarter earnings Aug. 3, driven mainly by the increase in gamers spending on their favorite titles during the pandemic. Its net revenue was up 54% to $831.3 million, “a fiscal first quarter record,” the company wrote in its earnings report. Take-Two’s quarterly net income is also on the rise — up 91% to $88.5 million, compared to $46.3 million during first quarter 2019.
Emmy Nomination Predictions 2020: All the Picks in 24 Top Categories (Photos)
For the first time in 42 years, the reigning drama and comedy series winners will not be in the running at this year's Emmys -- so here's who we think will be in line to take over from "Game of Thrones" and "Fleabag" as nominees in the top categories. You can also find more analysis on why we think these will be the nominees (and who could pull an upset) in drama, comedy, limited series/movies, and variety/reality programming.
Outstanding Drama Series: “Better Call Saul,” “The Crown,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Morning Show,” “Ozark,” “Pose,” “Succession” (pictured), “Westworld”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Jason Bateman, “Ozark” (pictured); Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”; Brian Cox, “Succession”; Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”; Billy Porter, “Pose”; Jeremy Strong, “Succession”
Netflix
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show”; Olivia Colman, “The Crown”; Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”; Laura Linney, “Ozark”; Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale” (pictured); Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”
Hulu
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Jonathan Banks, “Better Call Saul”; Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”; Kieran Culkin, “Succession”; David Harbour, “Stranger Things”; Josh O’Connor, “The Crown”; Tom Pelphrey, “Ozark”; Bradley Whitford, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Jeffrey Wright, “Westworld” (pictured)
HBO
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Helena Bonham Carter, “The Crown”; Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”; Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Cynthia Erivo, “The Outsider”; Julia Garner, “Ozark”; Thandie Newton, “Westworld”; Rhea Seehorn, “Better Call Saul” (pictured) ; Meryl Streep, “Big Little Lies”
AMC
Outstanding Comedy Series: “Better Things,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Dead to Me,” “The Good Place,” “Insecure,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Ramy,” “Schitt’s Creek” (pictured)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”; Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me”; Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (pictured); Linda Cardellini, “Dead to Me”; Issa Rae, “Insecure”; Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”
Amazon
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Anthony Anderson, “black-ish”; Ted Danson, “The Good Place” (pictured); Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”; Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”; Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”
NBC
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; D’Arcy Carden, “The Good Place”; Betty Gilpin, “GLOW”; Marin Hinkle, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Jane Lynch, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live” (pictured); Annie Murphy, “Schitt’s Creek”; Yvonne Orji, “Insecure”
NBC
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Mahershala Ali, “Ramy” (pictured); Louie Anderson, “Baskets”; Alan Arkin, “The Kominsky Method”; Sterling K. Brown, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Peter Gallagher, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”; Dan Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”; Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Kenan Thompson, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Jeremy Irons, “Watchmen”; Hugh Jackman, “Bad Education”; Aaron Paul, “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie”; Paul Mescal, “Normal People” (pictured); Mark Ruffalo: “I Know This Much Is True”
Hulu
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Cate Blanchett, “Mrs. America”; Kaitlyn Dever, “Unbelievable” (pictured); Regina King, “Watchmen”; Kerry Washington, “Little Fires Everywhere”; Merritt Wever, “Unbelievable”
Netflix
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend”; Darren Criss: “Hollywood”; Tim Blake Nelson, “Watchmen”; Jim Parsons, “Hollywood” (pictured); Jesse Plemons, “El Camino”; John Turturro, “The Plot Against America”
Netflix
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Uzo Aduba, “Mrs. America”; Rose Byrne, “Mrs. America” (pictured); Toni Collette, “Unbelievable”; Margo Martindale, “Mrs. America”; Sarah Paulson, “Mrs. America”; Jean Smart, “Watchmen”
Hulu
Outstanding Variety Talk Series: “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” (pictured), “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”
Outstanding Variety Sketch Show: “At Home With Amy Sedaris,” “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Drunk History” (pictured), “Saturday Night Live”
Comedy Central
Outstanding Variety Special (Live): “Garth & Trisha Live!,” “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times’,” “The Oscars,” “Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show Starring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira” (pictured), “73rd Annual Tony Awards”
Getty
Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded): “Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones”; “Hannah Gadsby: Douglas” (pictured); “Homefest: James Corden’s Late Late Show Special”; “Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill”; “The Kennedy Center Honors”; “One World: Together at Home”
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program: Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness, “Queer Eye” (pictured); Nicole Byer, “Nailed It”; Ellen DeGeneres, “Ellen’s Game of Games”; Jane Lynch, “Hollywood Game Night”; Amy Poehler & Nick Offerman, “Making It”; RuRaul, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Netflix
1 of 25
Last year’s champs, “Game of Thrones” and “Fleabag,” are out of the running — so here’s who we think will be vying to occupy those empty thrones
For the first time in 42 years, the reigning drama and comedy series winners will not be in the running at this year's Emmys -- so here's who we think will be in line to take over from "Game of Thrones" and "Fleabag" as nominees in the top categories. You can also find more analysis on why we think these will be the nominees (and who could pull an upset) in drama, comedy, limited series/movies, and variety/reality programming.