The gaming and gambling software company Playtech has bought out the Scottish gaming firm YoYo Games in a deal worth £10.65 million ($16.4 million).
The acquisition could see an extra £3.4 million ($5.25 million) paid out because of potential earn-outs and retention costs.
Dundee-based YoYo Games is best known for developing the proprietary, game development IDE, GameMaker for Windows.
GameMaker (originally created by Mark Overmars) is an extremely popular game development tool. Since its inception it has brought in over 750,000 registered developers.
Developers use the software to create games for iOS, Android, OS X, Ubuntu, Windows, Windows Phone, HTML5, PlayStation, and Xbox.
People have downloaded the GameMaker range of products over five million times.
The reason why this software is so popular is thanks to its flexibility and low cost, which attracts developers who are working on a tight a budget.
According to Develop, the acquisition is part of Playtech’s plan to expand its casual gaming operations.
In a statement the company said:
“Playtech’s directors believe that the continued development of the GMS technology within the company will enable it to extend beyond the current games developers base, and will fit well with its in-house casual team, extending its expertise and know-how in the development of casual games, marketing systems and related infrastructure.”
“This acquisition will enable the company to further diversify its business, benefiting from a combined B2B/B2C offering focused on a strong and growing segment of the wider gaming market.”
YoYo Games CEO Sandy Duncan has now stepped down following the buyout of the firm, he is now a consultant at Ferno Technology, according to his LinkedIn and Twitter profiles.