Mobile Gaming Company Scopely Sells to Savvy Games Group for $4.9 Billion

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Mobile gaming studio Scopely’s ​offices.
Courtesy of Scopely

Culver City-based mobile gaming outfit Scopely announced April 5 it agreed to be acquired by Saudi Arabian esports and gaming company Savvy Games Group. The transaction is worth $4.9 billion.


Scopely launched in 2011 and it found its niche adapting popular pop culture IP into mobile games. Some of its biggest hits include “Star Trek Fleet Command,” “Marvel Strike Force” and “Scrabble GO.” The company became one of Los Angeles’ top-valued startups in 2020 when it raised $340 million from investors, just after raising $200 million months prior.

In a statement Wednesday, Scopely co-CEOs Walter Driver and Javier Ferreira explained Scopely will “become an autonomous operating company under the Savvy umbrella.” This implies the publisher will retain its branding and staff, but report to the new parent company.

Founded in 2021 by former Activision Blizzard head of worldwide studios Brian Ward, Savvy consists of five companies including Savvy Games Studios, which publishes games and Savvy Games Fund, which invests in them. It also runs esports outfit ESL FACEIT Group.

Savvy Games Group is run by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which in recent years has greatly increased its investment in technology as it seeks to diversify its portfolio and drive larger returns by funneling its wealth into other industries more stable than oil. The tech sector doesn’t appear to be squeamish about taking Saudi funding anymore – earlier this week, a venture arm affiliated with the same state-run fund announced it’d backed some 18 startups and 40 venture and growth funds, including Andreessen Horowitz.

“Through this partnership, Scopely will benefit from Savvy’s ecosystem and long-term commitment to helping us achieve our ambitious goals,” the co-CEOs said in a statement. They noted they expect the deal to help Scopely expand further into new markets as well as “accelerate the expansion of our live games, slate, team, and technology to bring even more immersive experiences to communities around the world.”

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LA Tech Week: How Local Climate Investors Assess and Vet Green Startups

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

LA Tech Week: How Local Climate Investors Assess and Vet Green Startups
Samson Amore

In a region known for being a national trailblazer when it comes to climate policies, there’s no shortage of green energy startups in L.A. looking for funding. There’s also a plethora of investors and incubators, which means founders looking for cash flow should be extra specific about their value proposition when they pitch to cut through the noise. At least that was the message coming from the panelists at the UCLA Anderson School of Management on Tuesday.

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samsonamore@dot.la
LA Tech Week Day Two: Social Highlights
Evan Xie

L.A. Tech Week has brought venture capitalists, founders and entrepreneurs from around the world to the California coast. With so many tech nerds in one place, it's easy to laugh, joke and reminisce about the future of tech in SoCal.

Here's what people are saying about day two of L.A. Tech Week on social:

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LA Tech Week: Technology and Storytelling for Social Good

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

LA Tech Week: Technology and Storytelling for Social Good
Photo taken by Decerry Donato

On Monday, Los Angeles-based philanthropic organization Goldhirsh Foundation hosted the Technology and Storytelling For Social Good panel at Creative Visions studio to kick off LA Tech week.

Tara Roth, president of the foundation, moderated the panel and gathered nonprofit and tech leaders including Paul Lanctot, web developer of The Debt Collective; Alexis Cabrera, executive director of 9 Dots; Sabra Williams, co-founder of Creative Acts; and Laura Gonzalez, senior program manager of Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI).

Each of the panelists are grantees of Goldhirsh Foundation’s LA2050, an initiative launched in 2011 that is continuously trying to drive and track progress toward a shared vision for the future of Los Angeles. Goldhirsh’s vision is to make Los Angeles better for all and in order to achieve their goal, the foundation makes investments into organizations, creates partnerships and utilizes social capital through community events.

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