Take-Two Buying FarmVille Maker Zynga for $12B

Grand Theft Auto, meet FarmVille.

The video gaming company Take-Two Interactive Software will buy the mobile and online game maker Zynga Inc. for $12.7 billion, according to a Monday (Jan. 10) press release. The deal brings together two gaming companies with a presence across multiple platforms.

Take-Two, based in New York City, owns Rockstar Games, maker of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series, while the San Francisco-based Zynga is the creator of games like FarmVille and Words with Friends.

The deal is expected to conclude between April and June, with Zynga stockholders receiving compensation of around $9.86 for every share of the company they own, including $6.36 in Take-Two stock and $3.50 in cash.

A Wall Street Journal report notes that the past year has seen robust dealmaking activity in the gaming world, which generated around $180 billion in consumer spending worldwide in 2021. Last year saw Microsoft purchase the blockbuster Doom franchise for $7.5 billion, while Electronic Arts — whose games include The Sims and the Madden football series — acquired Glu Mobile Inc. for $2.4 billion and Playdemic Ltd. for $1.4 billion.

Read more: Tencent May Acquire Gaming Phone Maker Black Shark

This was one of two high-profile gaming related deals that surfaced Monday. In China, social media giant Tencent Group is reportedly in talks to acquire the gaming smartphone maker Black Shark in an apparent bid to establish a metaverse presence.

According to multiple media reports Monday, Tencent wants to buy Black Shark and move its focus from phones to virtual reality (VR) devices and creating content, with Tencent providing the VR software.

Founded in 2017, Black Shark has backing from Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker. The company worked with Tencent last year on a gaming phone on the Tencent game “Peacekeeper Elite.”