Mobile gaming company Tripledot Studios has acquired the Supersonic publishing business from Unity for a cash consideration of $40 million, which is subject to certain post-closing adjustments.
Announced via Tripledot’s official site, the company has outlined several “strategic advantages” around the acquisition. This includes a broader exposure to hybrid-casual gaming, with Supersonic granting “an immediate step-up” in scale. Tripledot also says the move complements its publishing biz and portfolio that it owns and operates via Lion Studios.
Moreover, the acquisition brings in “an experienced product team and engineering/R&D resources” with advanced SDKs and user acquisition automation technology. Tripledot wants to better position itself in the “age of AI in gaming,” as noted on the announcement.
“AI has made games faster and cheaper to build, but no easier to launch. By acquiring Supersonic and operating it alongside Lion Studios, Tripledot gains a scaled publishing operation with user acquisition expertise, capital and data science at the point in the value chain where the constraint now sits. It also allows Tripledot to capture and scale more successful games.”
The statement comes as studios continue to toot the generative AI horn, despite the fact that it has garnered a largely negative reception from developers in recent years, with many arguing that it is having a corrosive effect on the industry.
Lastly, Tripledot also mentions having access to talent in Israel as a standout. “The deal will expand the reach of Tripledot to Israel for the first time, and Supersonic will act as a beachhead for Tripledot, giving it access to the talent in the Israeli mobile games industry,” the announcement reads.
“The best games do not always come from the biggest companies,” Tripledot Studios CEO and co-founder Lior Shiff said in the announcement. “As AI lowers the barriers to developing a high quality game, the constraint for a small studio is no longer building a game, but bringing it to market and scaling it to millions of players. That is the problem a publisher exists to solve, and Supersonic has been solving it for years. Together with Lion Studios, we can now partner with more studios, in more markets, with better technology behind it.”
Tripledot has been on a steady acquisition spree since 2022 after raising $116 million in series B funding specifically to expand its portfolio and pursue acquisitions. This followed a $78 million funding round on the previous year.
In March 2022, the company acquired Live Play Mobile, known for a free-to-play live streamed bingo game called Live Play Bingo. Then, in May of last year, Tripledot acquired AppLovin mobile studio portfolio for $800 million. This deal saw Tripledot acquire 10 studios to significantly expand its operations in key markets including Asia and the United States.
After the deal, Tripledot owned 12 studios across 23 cities, boasting a mobile portfolio that serves over 25 million daily active users. As of 2022, Tripledot was valued at $1.4 billion.