iCandy now holds one of the largest teams of game-designers and developers globally, and the Aussie-upstart is ideally-positioned to become a star player in the NFT and metaverse gaming universe.

Games developer iCandy Interactive (ASX:ICI) has just completed the $44.5 million 100% acquisition of Lemon Sky, which establishes the Aussie-listed studio at the summit of gaming across Southeast Asia.

Lemon Sky studios has an existing portfolio of partnerships with big industry players including EA Entertainment, Microsoft Studios, Disney, Nickelodeon, Activision, and Blizzard Entertainment.

It is best known for its involvement in developing AAA games including Call of Duty – Infinite Warfare, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Spider-Man and Marvel’s Avengers.

https://www.lemonskystudios.com/project-timeline/

The combined entity now has more than 450 full-time employees, highly-skilled in game concept development, design, art, animation, 3D modelling, motion capture, software development and game monetisation design.

With a scarcity of designers and developers, the team is the largest in the world,  making it a go-to for AAA title game production.

It will also have expertise in developing its own intellectual properties and independent publishing, transforming iCandy into a leader in pioneering game developers in making AAA games for the non-fungible token (NFT) and metaverse gaming sectors.

 

M&A strategy for strength

Lemon Sky is a crown jewel for iCandy, which continues to pursue an aggressive M&A strategy to build a global integrated Metaverse gaming platform while capitalising on another emerging trend of NFT gaming.

iCandy recently acquired a majority 51% stake in gaming studio Storms, alongside three of Asia’s top telcos Singtel, AIS and SK Telecom.

The acquisition gives iCandy access to Storms’ extensive network of telcos and super apps and is likely to increase opportunities to monetise.

The Storms acquisition will enable iCandy to augment its games distribution and publishing capabilities, positioning the company to be both a significant upstream and downstream player in global NFT and metaverse gaming.

Furthermore, iCandy’s acquisition of Lemon Sky Studios and Storms is demonstrating the company’s ability to integrate and leverage another company’s assets to strengthen its own game development and design capability.

This article was developed in collaboration with iCandy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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