Take-Two buys leading soccer dev in latest play for mobile growth

Take-Two makes a big splash in the sports mobile business with the buyout of Nordeus, the developer behind popular soccer management sim Top Eleven.

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Take-Two is on a roll lately. The company just reported record earnings in FY2021, and while FY22 will drop somewhat, it's still the second year with a $3 billion net bookings forecast. The company expects to make record-breaking earnings in FY23 and FY24, and will release a whopping 62 games in the next 3 years.

20 of these new games will be mobile titles, and now Take-Two has made a big strategic acquisition that ticks multiple boxes. The company has bought Nordeus, the dev behind Top Eleven, the world's most popular mobile soccer management sim.

Take-Two will pay up to $378 million for Nordeus with $225 million in cash and $90 million in stock. This is a significant buy for Take-Two that reinforces its 2K Sports lineup (WWE and the mega-hit NBA 2K) while also injecting tremendous value into its mobile presence.

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Right now Take-Two's mobile segment consists of Social Point and Playdots, both of which are planning new titles as part of the upcoming slate.

"Our investment in Nordeus strengthens further Take-Two's mobile game business, is highly complementary to Social Point and Playdots, and broadens our sports portfolio with our first-ever soccer offerings,"said Michael Worosz, Executive Vice President and Head of Strategy and Independent Publishing for Take-Two.

"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. It's also incredibly exciting for Take-Two to expand our operations into a vibrant, beautiful city such as Belgrade; the local science and engineering talent in Serbia is very strong and the quality of the Nordeus team is a testament to that."