Scopely invests $50M in three European mobile game studios

Scopely has invested $50 million in three European mobile game studios: Omnidrone, Pixel Toys, and Tag Games.

The strategic investments support long-term commitments to co-create games, and it builds on Scopely’s strategy of partnering with talented mobile game makers and bringing their work to the widest audiences.

Los Angeles-based Scopely is no stranger to big deals. In October, the company raised $340 million at a $3.3 billion valuation, and the company is often considered to be positioning itself for an initial public offering. It also acquired FoxNext Games in January 2020. Sometimes its investments lead to acquisitions.

Scopely can take games made by other developers and match them with big licenses from intellectual property owners such as Marvel or Hasbro. And it has a large network of mobile game consumers as well as seasoned user acquisition teams that can help the games spread much faster than if the developers were on their own.

Scopely’s own big titles include Marvel Strike Force, Scrabble Go, and Star Trek: Fleet Command.

Three amigos

Above: Andy Wafer is CEO of Pixel Toys.

Image Credit: Scopely

Omnidrone is based in Spain, Pixel Toys is based in England, and Tag Games is based in Scotland. All three are working closely with Scopely on a number of in-development games across multiple genres.

Barcelona-based Omnidrone is collaborating with Scopely on a yet-to-be-announced midcore title, with over 100 Omnidrone employees working alongside a rapidly growing Scopely team in Barcelona — with over 350 Scopely employees in the city. Omnidrone CEO Gerard Fernandez leads the studio. Prior to Omnidrone, Fernandez co-founded Microjocs, one of the first companies to create and distribute mobile games in Spain, which was first acquired by Digital Chocolate and later purchased by Ubisoft. Omnidrone has 30 open positions.

Collaborating with Scopely on a different yet-to-be-announced midcore title, Pixel Toys is based in Leamington Spa, England, and it has developed multiple award-winning titles, including Gunfinger, Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade, Drop Dead, and Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realm War.

Pixel Toys was cofounded by CEO Andy Wafer and chief operating officer Alex Zoro. Together they have led the studio for nearly nine years, drawing upon their combined experience and decades-long careers spanning disciplines of game making, including game design and engineering, marketing, and distribution. Before joining Pixel Toys, Wafer held senior leadership roles at Codemasters and FreeStyleGames, which Zoro cofounded and served as a senior leader after beginning his career with Rare.

Dundee, Scotland-based studio Tag Games is co-creating a new title that will further expand Scopely’s massively multiplayer online strategy slate. The Tag Games team has worked with leading publishers on more than 60 games since its founding in 2006.

Marc Williamson, CEO of Tag Games, has been with the studio since 2010, first joining as head of production and studio manager. Before Tag, he grew his expertise as a gaming entrepreneur, establishing two of his own studios that delivered games for early touchscreen platforms and consoles like Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s Wii and DS systems.

The Scopely Studio Ecosystem

Above: The front desk at Scopely Barcelona.

Image Credit: Scopely

Scopely is home to a studio ecosystem of game makers, co-creating game experiences around the world. Scopely game teams include Scopely product leaders as well as internal Scopely Studios and/or external partner studios (such as Omnidrone, Pixel Toys, and Tag Games) that collaborate with a unique single team approach.

The company tries to eliminate traditional boundaries between developer and publisher, said Scopely co-CEO Javier Ferreira, in a past interview with GamesBeat. The company refers to these operating styles as the Scopely Operating System.

As part of the Scopely ecosystem, both internal and partner studios can benefit from Scopely’s publishing infrastructure, operating system, and proprietary technology platform Playgami.

It offers a range of products, enabling teams to create games players love and grow them as great businesses. Scopely Studios include Boundless Entertainment (formerly FoxNext Games), Genjoy, PierPlay, and Digit, among others, and partner studios currently span four continents with Omnidrone, Pixel Toys, and Tag Games as some of the newest members of the ecosystem.

Tim O’Brien, chief revenue officer at Scopely, in a statement that the studio ecosystem is built on a culture that values autonomy and creativity to achieve world-class game-making. He said these studios share a vision to create meaningful, dynamic experiences for players and represent passion and expertise in their respective genres.

Beyond its external partner studios, Scopely has a rapidly growing footprint in Europe, with more than 500 Europe-based employees across Barcelona, Dublin, London, and Seville. The company also has a presence across Asia in Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo, and in the U.S. in Los Angeles and Boulder.

Scopely’s Scrabble Go, launched in March 2020, has surpassed $500 million in lifetime revenue. The company was founded in 2011.