PlayTech buys GameMaker creator YoYo Games for £10m

Online gaming and sports betting software firm PlayTech has bought GameMaker tools firm YoYo Games for £10.65m ($16.4m).

An additional £3.4m ($5.25m) may also be paid out depending on performance as part of an earn-out clause in the deal.

A statement from PlayTech said the acquisition is part of the firm’s plans to expand its casual gaming operations, which already includes studio Plamee that employs 120 staff.

To date, GameMaker: Studio has attracted more than 750,000 registered developers, and can be used to make games for iOS, Android, OS X, HTML5, PlayStation, Xbox, Ubuntu, Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

In total the GameMaker suite of products have been downloaded over five million times.

Update: According to his LinkedIn and Twitter profiles, YoYo Games CEO Sandy Duncan has also stepped down from his role following the acquisition. He is now acting as a consultant for the firm at Ferno Technology.

We have reached out to YoYo Games for comment on the acquisition.