Nazara pays $100M for controlling stakes in Spanish gaming studios Bluetile and BestPlay

What's the deal? Indian gaming company Nazara Technologies is acquiring roughly 50% controlling stakes in two Spanish startups — casual gaming studio Bluetile GamesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and player engagement platform BestPlay SystemsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — for $100.3M. The deal pays $59.7M upfront, with the remaining $40.6M due within six months of closing.

Why now? The two companies' combined growth is hard to ignore: together they grew revenue from $50.1M in 2023 to $153.6M in 2025, with Bluetile alone reaching 375M total downloads and 22M monthly active users across 17 games. BestPlay adds 2.2M monthly active users. Combined, the two posted $27.7M EBITDA in 2025 — making this a bet on proven scale, not potential.

The timing is also strategic for Nazara, which posted a 36% year-on-year drop in net profit and a 24% revenue decline in Q3 FY26, partly due to the deconsolidation of its esports arm Nodwin Gaming. The acquisition signals a pivot toward profitable, global casual gaming.

What could go wrong? The deal carries a hefty performance-linked earn-out of up to $98.2M, tied to revenue and EBITDA targets between 2027 and 2029. If the Spanish studios miss those targets, the economics shift — but so does Nazara's obligation to pay. The structure limits upfront risk, with future payouts expected to be funded largely from the acquired companies' own cash.

Nazara also retains a call option to buy the remaining stake by 2028 at 6.6x trailing EBITDA. That's a meaningful future commitment, and much depends on whether Bluetile and BestPlay can sustain their growth trajectory.

The signal: Casual and social mobile gaming is quietly booming, and AI is becoming central to how studios build and operate games. Nazara says it plans to use the acquisition as a launchpad for AI-enabled game development and distribution across its global portfolio.

As larger studios chase blockbuster IP, the mid-market casual segment is attracting serious capital from emerging-market players looking to build global platforms on the cheap — and fast.

Sources:
BSE
Entrackr
Inc42
mint
InvestyWise

J.V.