All Access

Media Deals

Media Deals Alerts

Alert

Standard

Media Deals Thought Bubble

Thought Bubble

mustard

BFD Expert Voices - Media Deals

BFD Expert Voices

topics

politics-policy

epstein-files

donald-trump

2026-midterm-elections

immigration

behind-the-curtain

race-and-equity

technology

privacy-tech-regulation

automation-and-ai

tiktok-news

big-tech

social-media

cybersecurity

economy

social-security

inflation

tariffs

federal-reserve

jobs

transportation

business

stock-market-news

retail-news

crypto

media

elon-musk

dealmaking

health

rfk-jr

drug-prices

axios-explains-abortion

public-health

world

israel

axios-explains-ukraine

iran

russia

china

energy-climate

nuclear-energy

climate-energy-policy

climate-change

extreme-weather

alternative-energy

electric-vehicles

science

emerging-tech

biomedicine

newsletters

charlotte

detroit

columbus

austin

kansas-city

dallas

atlanta

washington-dc

nw-arkansas

boulder

chicago

indianapolis

nashville

richmond

houston

san-francisco

seattle

colorado-springs

boston

des-moines

salt-lake-city

philadelphia

denver

phoenix

new-orleans

miami

twin-cities

huntsville

raleigh

san-antonio

portland

san-diego

tampa-bay

cleveland

pittsburgh

axios-local

axios-pro

axios-live

the-axios-show

Data: S&P Global Market Intelligence; Chart: Axios Visuals

Only halfway through the year, the total gross transaction value of M&A in the video game industry has surpassed $100 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, Kerry writes. 

Why it matters: The gaming space is now a major category in the TMT M&A playbook, going from a niche corner to an industry driving significant consolidation.  

Context: The $100 billion figure is driven in large part by Microsoft's $79.6 billion Activision Blizzard deal. 

Yes, but: Even if that deal were removed, the year's total would be $22.6 billion. That exceeds the totals of most of the past decade, with half of 2022 remaining.

For the past decade, the total M&A value has been between $3 billion and $24 billion per year.   

Two billion-dollar deals in June — Savvy Gaming Group acquiring a stake in Embracer Group and Joffre Capital acquiring a majority stake in Playtika — pushed the year's total so far passed $100 billion. 

What they're saying: S&P Global Market Intelligence research analyst Neil Barbour says one reason for the rise of consolidation and investments is that the annual revenue for the video game industry reached $195 billion last year, according to his firm's estimates. 

"It's hard to ignore the enormous revenue opportunity that's happening inside of gaming," Barbour says. 

What's next: Barbour says he expects more M&A in the video game industry to happen this year, noting recent reports about Electronic Arts. 

"There's plenty of evidence to suggest that the deal table is still open for business. Whether or not any major deals get done is another story," Barbour says. 

1 big thing: $100B for video games 

Shortly after Pinterest's CEO shakeup, Elliott Management Corp. has built up a 9% stake in the company, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, Kerry writes. 

Why it's the BFD: That big stake has drawn speculation for a future sale or other massive changes, similar to how Elliott pressured Twitter.

State of play: Pinterest's potential acquirers could range from a social media platform to a fintech company. 

Meta/Twitter/Snap/TikTok: Each of the social platforms has its own commerce features. Meta would probably be the most likely buyer due to its family of apps strategy. Pinterest could serve as a dedicated shopping app. 

PayPal/Square/Shopify: A fintech company could use Pinterest as a storefront for its payment features. PayPal was in talks to buy Pinterest last year. Square or Shopify could pitch it as another tool for small businesses to promote their products. 

Private equity: Pinterest posted its first full-year profit in 2021. But it reported a $5 million net loss and a decline in monthly active users last quarter. A firm could come in and look for ways to streamline the business. 

Yes, but: Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann, who stepped down as CEO last month to become executive chairman, owns about a 37% voting stake in Pinterest that could limit Elliott's power, WSJ noted. 

Pinterest has been making its own bets to build up its commerce capabilities. Last month, it acquired the personalized shopping platform The Yes. 

💭 Thought bubble, via Axios Pro Retail Deals' Kimberly Chin: The move could hinder Pinterest's e-commerce play. Elliott's stake suggests it could take Pinterest in a different path — perhaps by reinvigorating its ad business.

2. The BFD: Elliott buys Pinterest stake

Illustration of Pinterest badge logo under dark clouds

Data: Paramount Pictures; Chart: Skye Witley/Axios

Tom Cruise's long-awaited "Top Gun" sequel proves the box office is alive and well, as it was not only the actor's highest-grossing movie, it was Paramount Picture's biggest domestic release in the studio's history, Tim writes.

Why it matters: The whopping gross to date shows that speculation around the demise of the box office is greatly exaggerated. Going forward, this will test studios' willingness to sacrifice theatrical revenue in favor of growing their in-house streaming services. 

Driving the news: On Wednesday, "Top Gun: Maverick" — which opened over Memorial Day weekend after nearly three years of delays — surpassed James Cameron's 1997 hit "Titanic," with $601.9 million domestically.

Globally, it became Cruise's first film to reach the $1 billion mark and is the highest-grossing movie of 2022. 

It's also the fifth movie for Paramount this year that has held the top spot over a weekend, joining "Scream 5," "The Lost City," "Sonic 2" and "Jackass Forever." 

Of note: "Titanic" still reigns with $659 million when factoring in rereleases that came well after the film's original run. 

What's next: Paramount movies have largely adopted the 45-day exclusive window for theaters before they are available on Paramount+. Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said "Top Gun's" (sorry) top performance at the box office means it will be a bit before you can stream "Maverick" from your home.

"We like the 45-day fast-follow model because it gives you freshness and lets you get box office revenue, really all the box office revenue, and still bring a marketing channel to the streamer. 'Top Gun,' because of what it's doing in the box office, it's going to be a little bit longer," he told CNBC this week. 

3. Charted: Paramount's new box office 'Top Gun'

UnCaged Studios, a web3 gaming studio, raised $24m in Series A funding from Griffin Gaming Partners, Vgames, Maverick Ventures Israel, Drive by DraftKings and 6th Man Ventures. http://axios.link/sapB

Hang, an NFT-powered provider of loyalty and membership software for brands, raised $16m in Series A funding. Paradigm led, and was joined by Tiger Global Management, Thirty Five Ventures, Mr. Beast's Night Ventures, Green Bay Ventures, Shrug Capital, Good Friends, K5 Global and Impatient Ventures. http://axios.link/aQTs 

Supermojo, a New York-based NFT financing platform, raised $6m in seed funding co-led by BH Digital, DRW VC, Intersection Growth Partners and Neuberger Berman. http://axios.link/ccmR

4. Deal flow

Pinterest hired Nadine Zylstra as global head of programming and originals. She was most recently YouTube's global head of original programming. http://axios.link/OIpg

Marty Chavez, a vice chairman and partner with Sixth Street Partners, is joining the board of Alphabet. http://axios.link/IeHa

Impellent Ventures hired The Roots' Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought, as a general partner. http://axios.link/W2KQ

Jomboy Media hired Andrew Patterson as its first CEO. He previously worked at Greenfly and MLBAM. http://axios.link/lJY7

Havas Creative appointed Donna Murphy, global CEO of Havas Health & You, as CEO. http://axios.link/jsoG

Hillman Grad, Lena Waithe's entertainment company, promoted four executives: Naomi Funabashi to president of film and television at Hillman Grad Productions, Justin Riley to VP of operations and business development, Lacy Lew Nguyen Wright to executive director of the Hillman Grad Foundation and Marquis Phifér to head of cultural marketing. http://axios.link/Iv7E

Politico hired the Washington Post's Mike DeBonis as editor of Playbook. http://axios.link/kK4D

BBC hired Netflix's scripted executive Lindsay Salt as director of drama. http://axios.link/V4m3

Will Packer Media hired Sabrina Wind to lead scripted development, production. http://axios.link/jMsf

Warner Bros. Discovery renewed contracts for CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels and Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer Bruce Campbell. http://axios.link/cCCZ

Sophie Watts, former STX Entertainment president, joined the board of ad tech company Ryff. http://axios.link/ZiDs

Tim Grieve is leaving as EIC of Protocol. http://axios.link/077c

Michael Reilly will join Protocol as editorial director. He spent the past seven years at MIT Tech Review. http://axios.link/6fNk

Julianne Moore named president of Venice Film Festival jury. http://axios.link/V56C

Simone Oliver is stepping down as global EIC of Refinery29. http://axios.link/8TxE

5. Movin' on up (or out)

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger battled the company's board over succession, insiders say, and was unhappy about the transition of power to Bob Chapek (Insider)

"Chapek and Iger had different ideas about how to handle COVID, how the company should be structured, and where Disney's politics should be. They even had different corporate advisory teams, sometimes working against each other," Claire Atkinson reports. 

Fox station sale in Boston triggers fears of pay-TV rate hikes (Bloomberg)

"Shortly before it completes its $5.4 billion acquisition of TV station operator Tegna, the private equity firm Standard General plans to buy the Boston station from an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, which is helping to finance the larger deal," Todd Shields reports.

The S.E.C. broadens its inquiry into Elon Musk's disclosures about Twitter (NYT)

"The agency raised questions about a tweet from Mr. Musk in May in which the billionaire claimed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter 'cannot move forward' because of spam on the platform. The tweet suggested Mr. Musk planned to abandon the deal," Kate Conger reports. 

6. Channel surfing

Illustration of a television with a tie dye pattern on the screen.

🖊️ Situational awareness: Hasbro and the New York Times are partnering to turn the popular word puzzle game Wordle into a board game, Axios' Noah Garfinkel writes. 

@tim_bays: More galavanting around the Windy City and checking out some rooftop bars and my wife's alma mater Northwestern. 

@kerrymflynn: "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" teaser trailer on YouTube. I'm someone who owns the LOTR trilogy extended editions. 

Thank you for reading Axios Pro Media Deals! Please ask your friends, colleagues and Tom Cruise to sign up.

July 15, 2022

1 big thing: $100B for video games