Trophy Games buys France's Playrion for €2.3M, lifts 2026 outlook
What's the deal? Danish developer Trophy Games DevelopmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has agreed to acquire 100% of French game studio Playrion SASUDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → from Sweden's Paradox Interactive for €2.25 million in cash. It is the largest acquisition in Trophy Games' history. Closing is expected on September 30, 2026.
The terms: The upfront €2.25 million is payable at closing on a cash- and debt-free basis, funded entirely from existing cash reserves. Paradox will also receive an earnout worth 9% of net revenue from Playrion's games over the three years after closing.
Who's involved? Playrion specialises in aviation simulation and management games, best known for Airlines Manager and Airport Simulator: First Class . It has around 30 employees, generates roughly €4.0 million in annual revenue, and will keep operating independently from its Paris studio.
What's the endgame? Trophy Games sees Airport Simulator and its technology as the foundation for a new series of simulation titles. The plan echoes its 2021 purchase of Airline Manager 4 , which grew into a six-game franchise of transport management titles.
"What makes this acquisition particularly interesting to us is the potential to build from an already proven foundation," says Søren Gleie, founder and chief executive officer of Trophy Games. "We have successfully done that before, and with Airport Simulator we see an opportunity to do it again."
By the numbers: Trophy Games raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to US$24.9M-US$26.4M, up from US$22M-US$24.5M. EBITDA guidance shifts to US$4.25M-US$5.13M from US$4.11M-US$5.28M, while EBIT guidance holds at US$2.64M-US$3.52M. Playrion is expected to contribute a full quarter to consolidated results and operate cash flow-neutral in the short term.
Why now? Gleie says the company has grown revenue more than fourfold over the past five years, has six new games launching over the next year, and now has the financial capacity for larger deals.
The signal: The deal shows how smaller listed studios are consolidating proven mobile franchises rather than betting on new IP — buying an established base, then extending it into a series. For Trophy Games, Playrion is a bid to build a fresh growth platform in simulation gaming.
Read more: hk.marketscreener.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
