Take-Two Makes a Big Move

🎮 Take-Two Interactive, publisher of video games like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and NBA 2K, agreed to buy mobile games giant Zynga for $12.7 billion. The deal is the largest acquisition in video game history, and is expected to close in the first quarter of next year pending regulatory approval.

• The record cash-and-stock transaction beats out Tencent's $8.57 billion purchase of Clash of Clans-maker Supercell in 2016 and Microsoft's recent $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda.
• While Take-Two is known for PC and console gaming, Zynga is best known for mobile and social gaming titles like FarmVille and Words With Friends. It's also planning to roll out an Among Us-like game on Snapchat called Revamp.
• "More than 50% of our net bookings will come from mobile upon closing this transaction," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told the WSJ.

+Zoom out: Mobile gaming accounted for nearly half of all video gaming revenue worldwide in 2020, per Statista ($79 billion). It's projected to surpass $100 billion by next year.