Bengaluru head-quartered Esports and skill gaming company Mobile Premier League (MPL) has acquired Germany-based GameDuell to foray into Europe.
Started in 2018 by Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra, MPL offers over 70 games across categories such as fantasy, quizzing, esports, and casual games on its Android and iOS apps. It claims to have over 90 million users across India, Indonesia, and the United States. The company says it has tie-ups with multiple gaming studios and developer partners that publish games on its platform. The startup entered the unicorn club in September last year when it raised $150 million in September last year at a valuation of $2.3 billion. MPL is one of the petitioners before the Karnataka High Court concerning the decision that quashed the controversial online gaming ban law as unconstitutional.
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The acquisition of GameDuell also marks MPL’s entry into the mobile free-to-play (F2P) gaming segment. The terms of the purchase were not disclosed as per a report on Money Control. With this deal, MPL will now have a presence in Europe, Asia, and North America. The company entered the United States in July 2021.
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“We believe our collaboration with GameDuell will give us the right strategic support and expertise to help us continue to offer exemplary gaming experience for both India and the world. Together, we look forward to creating best-in-class gaming experiences and growing the Mobile F2P segment” MPL cofounder and CEO Sai Srinivas was quoted in media reports.
Founded in 2003, GameDuell says it offers more than 70 casual online skill games including community card and board games in seven languages. It has raised a total of over $17 million from investors such as Wellington Partners and Burda Digital Ventures.
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“We believe the complementary strengths between both teams will enable us to grow our GameDuell games communities even bigger across the world. Given GameDuell’s expertise and experience in the segment coupled with MPL’s global distribution and ambitious vision, we look forward to further building our vision of bringing people together to have a good time with games on a global scale”, said Kai Bolik, CEO, GameDuell.