Full coverage: Video games

The Irish video-game services giant saw a bumper exit to EQT last year. Since then, it has continued with job cuts globally and homed in on AI.

The mobile games company, founded in Russia and now based in Dublin, has appointed receivers to a company called Pinterpod, with which it shares a director.

The Russian-born Bukhman brothers moved Playrix to Ireland over a decade ago. Latest accounts show its mobile gaming business booking record revenues.

Today, the games services firm closed its acquisition by EQT. In the last few months, it has been shedding jobs in some markets to cut costs but unions in Italy are putting up a fight.

The digital games tax credit arrived in late 2022 but it has had several problems, according to Irish studios who say many of their functions are excluded from eligibility.

The Irish video-game services firm is nearing a €2.5bn deal to be taken private. But outside the boardroom, workers in the US and Europe are striking over AI and lay-offs.

US-headquartered, Chinese-owned Riot Games is hiring to beef up its third global tax team in Dublin, where intellectual property has turned its office into a billion-euro business.

Nexus, a recent gathering of Irish games industry pros, took the pulse of the sector in Ireland, finding a challenging environment but one with plenty of opportunity.

Emmet O’Neill speaks about the pros and cons of acquisitions and steering StoryToys through failures before selling for over €22m. He spoke to Jonathan Keane at the NEXUS by GamerFest Conference.

Richard Barnwell, who has transitioned from games studio founder to VC, discusses the unique challenges that games start-ups face in raising money.