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Nicholas Lovell
Home   >   Analysis and Opinion   >   Analysis   >   Naturalmotion sold to Zynga for $527 million, Benchmark’s successful games exits hit $2 billion

Naturalmotion sold to Zynga for $527 million, Benchmark’s successful games exits hit $2 billion

By on January 30, 2014

I am so pleased with the news that NaturalMotion has sold to Zynga for $527 million. It’s a great result for the UK games investors when investors, entrepreneurs and game makers can see that you can make a decent (fabulous) return from investing in games businesses. It’s great when a solid, successful business, founded on making great games that are loved by its players, is acquired for what looks (although I have no knowledge of NaturalMotions’s financial performance) for a great price. It’s great that Zynga is seeking routes to stay relevant by using less than a quarter of its cash balance to buy a company that will help it become successful and relevant in a fast changing gaming landscape.

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It’s also great news for Benchmark. The VC has made early stage investments in four companies (Jamdat, Riot, Gaikai, NaturalMotion) which have exited for a gross value of $2 billion. That’s a great track record, and Mitch Lasky, the Benchmark partner who sat on NaturalMotion’s board, has blogged that they are looking for new investments. I look forward with interest to seeing which ones they make.

About Nicholas Lovell

Nicholas is the founder of Gamesbrief, a blog dedicated to the business of games. It aims to be informative, authoritative and above all helpful to developers grappling with business strategy. He is the author of a growing list of books about making money in the games industry and other digital media, including How to Publish a Game and Design Rules for Free-to-Play Games, and Penguin-published title The Curve: thecurveonline.com