The German online games company Bigpoint has been sold to the Chinese developer and publisher Youzu Interactive.
The purchase price, according to the news agency Reuters, is around 80 million euros. This price is somewhat surprising, as Bigpoint’s value was estimated at 600 million US dollars in 2011. The success at that time led to the investment firms Summit Partners and TA Associates investing 350 million dollars in the company. At the time, it was hoped that Bigpoint’s value would increase to more than one billion dollars. But things turned out quite differently.
The Declining Success of Bigpoint
In 2012, online games such as Drakensang Online and Farmerama still achieved annual sales of nearly 127 million dollars. By 2014, it was no longer even 67 million dollars. In the same year, the company reported a loss of more than 21 million dollars. Since then, no numbers have been released.
The company’s founder and then CEO Heiko Hubertz left the company at the end of 2012, but still holds 30 percent of Bigpoint. Hubertz and the other investors are likely not pleased with the “bargain price” at which the company has now been sold to Youzu.
Observers say that Bigpoint’s competitors have increasingly focused on mobile games in recent years and are consequently in a better position now.
The Company Does Not Give Up
Youzu Interactive Co, Ltd was founded in 2009 by Lin Qi and distributes online games internationally such as League of Angels and Magerealm. Currently, they are working together with Bigpoint on a new game titled “Hocus Puzzle.” For the global distribution of the game, they have set aside a marketing budget of more than 30 million euros.
Khaled Helioui, CEO of Bigpoint, says: “With this collaboration, a new chapter in Bigpoint’s corporate history begins, focusing solely on the quality of the published titles. Thanks to the support from Youzu, we can continue to invest in our talented developers, the great experiences they create, and the reach of our games. Lin Qi’s passion and his vision for the industry, along with our commitment to continually providing our players with better experiences, complement each other beautifully. Collaborating with a player- and product-focused organization like Youzu allows us to achieve our goal: Great games for everyone.”
