By
Godfrey Benjamin
December 4th, 2023
Take-Two Interactive’s mobile gaming division gets a strong footprint in the mobile-based soccer/football market wherein Nordeus holds a very strong market share with its much-popular Top Eleven.
On Wednesday, June 2, Take-Two Interactive Software (NASDAQ: TTWO) announced that it had acquired the Serbian mobile games developer Nordeus in a $378 million deal. Of this, Take-Two shall be paying $225 million in cash and the remaining $90 million in common stock options.
This acquisition also serves as a big addition to Take-Two’s gaming division. Besides, it also gets to step into the football/soccer market by leveraging Nordeus’ market position. The press release also notes that this acquisition is Take-Two’s strategic initiative to boost its mobile business. Speaking about the acquisition of Nordeus to Games Industry, Michael Worosz, Take-Two executive vice president and head of the strategy, said:
“I first became aware of Nordeus in 2014. Top Eleven was trending well. This was around the time that Take-Two was really getting interested in mobile. We are not usually the first to market on many things, but usually when we come to a market we try to be the best at it. We observed the success that Zynga has enjoyed in its run up to being a public company. Thus, we invested in Scopely, and learnt a lot about mobile publishing. I followed Nordeus around this time, we were interested in this management category, especially in mobile because it lends itself so well to that form factor”.
Why Take-Two Interactive Software Decides to Acquire Nordeus
Founded in 2010 in Belgrade, Serbia, Nordeus is the gaming behind Nordeus, the world’s most popular mobile soccer management game. The mobile game allows users to create and manage their own soccer clubs. So far, Top Eleven has more than 240 million registered users on the platform.
The great thing about Top Eleven its popularity has continued to grow over the last ten years. Top Eleven currently holds a leading position for soccer on mobile. Besides, it is immensely popular in Europe, Latin America, and South East Asian countries. It has a relatively small audience in the U.S. but it is growing.
“Over the last decade, Top Eleven has grown its audience, revenue, and profitability through Nordeus’ introduction of live-ops and ongoing gameplay innovations that continue to drive ongoing consumer engagement,” said Worosz.
Speaking about the recent acquisition, Branko Miluntinović, CEO and co-founder of Nordeus said:
“We’re delighted to be joining the Take-Two family. From a start-up back in 2010, to what we are today, Nordeus has been built on giving the world more champions through great gaming experiences such as Top Eleven, while also rooting ourselves in the community in Serbia through our continuous efforts in giving back. We are excited to take both our products and our work locally, to the next level with them as we continue our aim of putting Serbia on the global map of gaming.”
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