InnoGames, the Hamburg-based developer and publisher of successful browser games such as Elvenar, Tribal Wars, The West, and Grepolis, is going to the next level.
MTG (Modern Times Group), the Swedish digital entertainment company, has acquired a 35% stake in the company for an estimated $100 million, valuing the company at $287 million. MTG also has the option to acquire a 51% stake in the future. InnoGames has over 150 million registered players, and half of new players come from mobile devices, with many more mobile titles planned.
The move is a win for the London-based Eight Roads Ventures fund, formerly known as Fidelity Growth Partners.
Davor Hebel, partner in Eight Roads, told TechCrunch the games company is on a tear, continuing on a path towards €1bn of revenue.
It’s also clearly a big win for InnoGames which was bootstrapped until raising a B round from Eight Roads, and a win for Hamburg which is not so well-known on the European or Global tech scene as a hub.
Hendrik Klindworth, InnoGames CEO and co-founder, said: “We have scored major success with our live games and are now focusing on the development of several new mobile first titles… MTG’s international presence, understanding of storytelling entertainment, and commitment to IP development and building engaged user communities will bring our games to even larger audiences around the world.”
MTG is best known for its esports and MPN businesses (ESL and DreamHack), so this adds an extra arm to their business.
InnoGames has 400 employees working on games like Elvenar, Tribal Wars 2, and Forge of Empires. Since none of these have a an esports element, you can expect MTG to begin looking at how that can be brought into the strategy.
InnoGame’s roots go back to 2003, when founders Eike and Hendrik Klindworth and Michael Zillmer developed the browser game Tribal Wars. In 2007, they founded InnoGames and the rest, as they say, is history.