The people behind Grand Theft Auto announced that they’re buying Zynga, the maker of Farmville.
Video game developer Take-Two Interactive announced on Monday that it would buy Zynga for $12.7 billion, a record-breaking acquisition in the gaming market.
“Combining Zynga’s expertise in mobile and next-generation platforms with Take-Two’s best-in-class capabilities and intellectual property will enable us to further advance our mission to connect the world through games,” said Frank Gibeau, the CEO of Zynga, in a press statement.
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The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, pending regulatory approval.
“We are trying to build a business over a very long period of time,” Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Monday. “We’ve paid attention to creating value for our players, for our colleagues, and for our shareholders, and that’s worked out over a very long period of time.”
Take-Two’s acquisition of Zynga will be the company’s first venture into mobile. Zynga has been a significant player in casual gaming for over a decade, with games such as the Facebook-based Farmville and Words with Friends cementing its presence. Zynga currently makes Farmville spinoffs and mobile slot games.
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Take-Two, meanwhile, has had regular success with its numerous franchises, including Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, BioShock, Borderlands, and several others.
Take-Two’s acquisition is the largest one in the gaming industry to date. The second-largest purchase to date is Microsoft’s 7.5 billion purchase of Bethesda, maker of Skyrim and Fallout, in March 2021.
