When I heard that Activision had bought out Candy Crush developer King for a little over $6 billion, I was floored. I couldn’t believe that these mobile developers were worth so much. Imagine my shock today when I read that Chinese giant Tenecent had bought Clash of Clans developer Supercell for a mind-numbing $8.6 billion. If you had any doubt that the mobile gaming market was encroaching upon the console gaming market, then this should open your eyes. Mobile gaming is huge; it’s everywhere; it’s generating obscene amounts of revenue.
Tenecent pretty much runs the show in China, and is best known for its controlling stake in League of Legends . Its buyout of Supercell will take place gradually, concluding in the third quarter of the fiscal year. After the buyout, Supercell has been valued at $10.2 billion which, as Polygon has pointed out, is almost double the $5.25 billion at which it was valued last year. Obviously Clash of Clans is going to be Tenecent’s main money machine, but with the purchase of Supercell it will also be acquiring Hay Day, Clash Royale, and Boom Beach . Congrats to the folks at Supercell, who are probably all shopping for vacation homes as we speak.