[Original post: Top 10 in Tech: London’s most valuable Gaming startups ]
We’re looking at the most valuable startups coming out of London. This week, we’re checking out startups making a pretty penny in the gaming industry.
The ascendance of gaming in the entertainment sector is nothing short of impressive. Having grown from 3D home consoles like the Nintendo 64 to the immersive VR home gaming experience now available on consoles like the Playstation 4, games manufacturers have proven that they’re capable of pushing tech to new levels.
Looking at the London scene, mobile gaming is where the game developers are making their name. There are also some interesting companies supporting the growth of eSports, through streaming or hosting tournament events.
We used Tech Nation’s Data Commons to identify the most valuable games companies, creators and studios younger than 10 years old, having recently ranked the Top 10 FinTech, EdTech and Food and Drink startups.
1. Improbable
Despite only launching seven years ago, Improbable – A cloud-based platform for game developers to create AI-powered simulated worlds – has grown and grown. They now have nearly 400 employees and received an investment of $100 million from Chinese gaming giant NetEase. In gaming, Improbable allows for next-generation gameplay in virtual worlds of never-before-seen scale and richness.
Founded: 2012
Value: At least £1.6 billion
2. Space Ape Games
A studio that specialises in creating mobile games, Space Ape was heavily invested in by Sweedish mobile gaming giant Supercell, who bought 62% of the company for just over £44.6 million. To date, they’ve launched four games: Samurai Siege, Rival Kingdoms, Transformers: Earth Wars and Fastlane: Road to revenge and have accumulated over 55 million players on them.
Founded: 2012
Value: At least £73 million
3. FACEIT
FACEIT is an independent competitive gaming platform which has over 15 million users competing against each other online. Gamers can win real prizes in leagues and tournaments. Their games include PUBG, Rocket League, CS:GO and Overwatch amongst others. Last year, Sky Sports broadcasted the CS:GO Playoffs of the London Major.
Founded: 2011
Value: At least £48 million
4. Polystream
Polystream is a Guildford-based cloud technology startup that enables cost-effective streaming of games and 3D applications with unrivalled reach and scale. “Audiences around the world are increasingly hungry for the richest and most graphically complex content to be streamed instantly,” CEO Bruce Grove told gamingindustry.biz. Earlier this year, the company racked up £12m in series A funding led by Intel Capital.
Founded: 2015
Value: At least £38 million
5. Flexion Mobile Limited
Flexion helps game developers distribute their products globally. Their full-service offering includes assistance on initial set up, maintenance, monetisation, analytics and reporting, compliance and settlement. In June, the company reported that revenue increased by 78% to £1.7m and total annual revenue increased by 150% to £6.4m.
Founded: 2009
Value: At least £32 million
6. Bossa Studios
Bossa creates original games and the core development team mainly are former employees from Bullfrog Productions, Jagex, Ubisoft, and Playfish. Their portfolio of games includes BAFTA-winning Monstermind, played by over one million Facebook users, Merlin: The Game, and Surgeon simulator and the community-built World’s Adrift. Their latest, Pigeon Simulator, is just around the corner.
Founded: 2010
Value: At least £32 million
7. Tripledot Studios
Tripledot was created in 2017 when three friends decided to join forces to create a new kind of games studio. Their mobile games include Solitaire Classic, a Tetris-like game called Blocks, a narrative-based game called Twisted, Sudoku and Hop. Eyal Chameides, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, said: “The secret to making great games is actually deceptively simple: bring incredible people together and give them a brilliant, fun and creative environment that enables them to do what they do best.”
Founded: 2017
Value: At least £25 million
8. Bravocompany
This Shoreditch-based startup create coffee-break eSports, defined as ‘competitive team multiplayer games for the busy generation’. Their 5v5 squad-based tactical team shooter ‘Forces of Freedom’ is designed for mobile and currently has over 25 million players enjoying early access through the Google play store. Index Adventures invested £6m in 2017.
Founded: January 2015
Value: At least £24 million
9. Peak
Games aren’t just for entertainment. Peak, formerly Brainbow, is a mobile app, available on the Apple store and the Google Play store, that helps you improve your cognitive ability with various challenges. The games on the app test your Focus, Memory, Problem Solving, Mental Agility and more. French publisher Hachette bought a majority stake in the subscription-model company in 2017.
Founded: 2012
Value: At least £22.3 million
10. Hutch
Hutch specialises in racing games for mobile touchscreens and has 10 different titles on its roster. Titles include Smash Cops, F1 Manager, Racekings and MMX Racing. The company employs over 70 people but only ever has 10 working on one of their games at one time. Index Ventures and Backed VC co-led a series A funding round of £4.4m in 2017.
Founded: 2011
Value: At least £17.9 million
