The iCandy Interactive Limited (ASX: ICI) share price is up by 4% at the time of writing, after the company shared news of an acquisition.
The games and digital entertainment company has purchased hyper-casual mobile gaming platform NextGamer.
Let's look closer at iCandy's announcement.
The next big thing
Singapore-based company NextGamer creates easy-to-master mobile games, taking no longer than 2–3 minutes per game. It profits off of in-game purchases and advertising. The company creates both web and mobile-based games, allowing players to enter into casual gaming tournaments online.
Hyper-casual gaming is that which is simple, easy to play, and takes a very short time to complete.
iCandy stated in this morning's announcement that multiple sources claim hyper-casual mobile gaming is an up-and-coming trend in gaming. It noted reports that hyper-casual games recorded the most downloads in the first half of 2020.
NextGamer will have the ability to match gamers against one another for competitive gaming, iCandy stated.
iCandy has acquired 100% of NextGamer's voting shares. The purchase cost iCandy $1.29 million, of which $900,000 was paid for in cash and the rest in iCandy shares, valued at 13 cents each.
The company states its new acquisition will take cue from iCandy's library of more than 300 game titles.
Commentary from management
iCandy's Chairman, Kin W Lau, commented:
We are really excited at the prospect of hypercasual gaming, and NextGamer has a unique proposition that offers very short game sessions on the go to mobile gamers via a casual competitive gaming environment.
iCandy has extensive expertise in casual mobile games and we can market NextGamer's games to our large audience of mobile gamers internationally.
iCandy share price snapshot
After announcing its new acquisition, iCandy shares are up 4.35% to 12 cents.
The iCandy share price is up 1,100% over the last 12 months but is down by 14.29%, year to date.
The company has a market capitalisation of around $65 million with approximately 571 million shares outstanding.
