Big Cheese Studio Valuation Multiples

Microsoft is an American technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington that sells software, cloud computing services, devices and games to consumers, businesses and governments. It was founded on 4 April 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen and has been led by chief executive Satya Nadella since February 2014. Its products include the Windows operating system, the Microsoft 365 productivity suite, the Azure cloud platform, the Copilot AI assistant, Xbox consoles and games, the LinkedIn professional network, the GitHub developer platform and the Bing search engine. In the fiscal year to 30 June 2026 revenue rose 18% to $331.8 billion, operating income reached $155.2 billion and net income $133.7 billion; Azure revenue passed $100 billion for the first time and Microsoft 365 Copilot exceeded 30 million paid seats. The company earns money from cloud subscriptions and consumption, software licences, advertising, and hardware and game sales, and employs about 223,000 people. Major acquisitions include LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016 and Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in 2023, and it is a major investor in OpenAI under a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar partnership announced in January 2023.

Founded in the late 1990s as an internet portal, NetEase has evolved into China’s second-largest online gaming company. Its early success was anchored by the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Fantasy Westward Journey, which laid the foundation for a durable franchise strategy. Over the past decade, the company has expanded its portfolio with successful titles such as Justice, Identity V, Naraka: Bladepoint, and Eggy Party, all of which continue to maintain sizable and engaged player bases.In addition to its in-house development capabilities, NetEase partners with global IP holders such as Microsoft and Marvel to develop and publish titles based on established franchises, including World of Warcraft, Diablo Immortal, and Marvel Rivals, further strengthening its global presence.

Nintendo started its video game console business in 1983 by launching the NES, and started its portable console business in 1989 by launching the Game Boy. Since then, the firm has focused on expanding the gaming population by delivering unique entertainment experiences on its original console systems. However, Nintendo not only makes game consoles, but also owns world-renowned IPs such as Super Mario, Pokemon, and Zelda, which have been a source of cash flow for 40 years.

Take-Two is one of the largest global developers and publishers of video games, with labels including Rockstar, 2K, and Zynga. Grand Theft Auto is the firm's biggest franchise, accounting for about 30% of total sales for the past decade. NBA 2K is the industry's dominant basketball video game, with Take-Two releasing a new version annually. Other notable franchises include Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands, and Civilization. Typically, more than three-fourths of the firm's sales are from in-game spending, with the remainder coming from initial game sales. Since acquiring Zynga in 2022, mobile makes up about half of total sales.

Roblox operates a free-to-play online video game platform with nearly 150 million daily active users. This platform has spawned a virtual universe and a Roblox economy based on the Robux currency. The platform houses millions of games from a wide range of creators—spanning from young gamers themselves to professional development studios. Roblox offers creators the tools, publishing abilities, and platform for their games, enabling anyone to create a game. Creators earn money when gamers make optional in-game purchases within their games and by offering space for real-world advertising, and Roblox earns revenue primarily by taking a cut of these earnings.

Konami is a Japanese video game and entertainment company best known for its eFootball, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Powerful Pro Baseball, and Metal Gear franchises. It operates four business divisions—digital entertainment, amusement, gaming and systems, and sports. Overseas sales account for the majority of the company’s revenue.

Zhejiang Century Huatong Group Co Ltd is a China-based company engaged in three main businesses: Internet games, auto parts manufacturing, and artificial intelligence cloud data, as well as brain science research, artificial intelligence, metaverse platform and application development and investment.

Nexon is a South Korean online game developer and publisher, founded in 1994 in Korea by Kim Jung-ju. In 2005, the company moved its headquarters to Tokyo, Japan, and has operations in Korea, the US, Taiwan, and Thailand. The company’s most notable franchises are MapleStory, Dungeon & Fighter, Sudden Attack, and KartRider. Nexon has been the publisher for EA’s FC Online game franchise in Korea and Japan since 2013. Nexon acquired an independent game developer, Embark Studios AB, located in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2019.

Capcom was founded in 1979, originally an arcade game producer, but gradually transitioned to focus on producing console games, with the popularization of console gaming throughout the years. Capcom is currently one of the top video game producers in the world, with several long-lived popular series Resident Evil (since 1996), Monster Hunter (since 2004) and Streetfighter (since 1987). It was the top highly reviewed game publisher in 2019 and 2023 in Metacritic’s Annual Game Publisher Rankings. It also runs several side businesses including arcade operations, slot machines and e-sports.

International Games System Co Ltd plans, designs, researches, develops, manufactures, markets, and services commercial electronic arcade games, related software and hardware products, online games and mobile games. It offers arcade game, online game, mobile game, simulator machine games and online games. All the business activity is operated through Taiwan. There are two segments namely: Arcade game division, which derives maximum revenue and Online game division.

Square Enix is a Japanese video game publisher and entertainment company that was formed in 2003 through the merger between Square and Enix. The company is best known for its role-playing game franchises such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, and Nier. The company also operates publishing, merchandise, and amusement businesses.

CD Projekt Red SA is engaged in developing and publishing video games for personal computers and latest-generation consoles. The studio's flagship titles include The Witcher series and Cyberpunk 2077.

Krafton Inc is a South Korea-based game developer and publisher engaged in creating and distributing PC, mobile, and console games. Its activities also extend to game software services, mobile app development, video content production, and related investment and consulting work. The company manages multiple studios, including PUBG Studio, Bluehole, RisingWings, Striking Distance Studios, Dreamotion, and Unknown Worlds, and is known for titles such as PUBG: Battlegrounds, New State Mobile, BGMI, Defense Derby, The Callisto Protocol, Ronin: The Last Samurai, Road to Valor, Moonbreaker, and Subnautica.

Kingnet Network Co Ltd is a Chinese-based online game company. The company's main business covers research and development as well as the operation and publishing of quality entertainment content, including mobile games, web games, and PC games. It also engages in the operation of web game platforms and mobile app distribution platforms.

Kingsoft Corp Ltd is a Chinese software and Internet services company. The company's operating segment includes entertainment software and others and office software and services. It generates maximum revenue from the entertainment software and others segment. The entertainment software and others segment is engaged in the research and development of games, and the provision of online games, mobile games and casual game services. Geographically, it derives a majority of revenue from Mainland China, and also has its presence in Hong Kong, and Other Countries.

Oriental Pearl Group Co Ltd operates a media integration and distribution platform in China. The various business units of the company comprise Channel Products Operation, Video Shopping, and E-Commerce, Culture and Entertainment Themed Tourism, Mobile Transmissions and Video Games among others.

Sega Sammy Holdings was established as a holding company in 2004, when video game developer Sega and pachislot and pachinko vendor Sammy merged. The company currently derives majority of its sales revenue from entertainment content and its pachislot and pachinko machine business, which contributed 75% and 23% of total revenue in fiscal 2024, respectively.

Micro-Star International Co Ltd is a manufacturer and distributor of computer hardware products, particularly gaming laptops and hardware. Its other products include laptops, motherboards, graphics cards, all-in-one PCs, mobile workstations, barebone computers, servers, multimedia peripherals to vehicle infotainment solutions, smart cleaning robots, and Wi-Fi cameras.

Koei Tecmo Holdings is a Japanese video game, amusement, and anime company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo, best known for their Nobunaga’s Ambition, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Nioh, and Atelier game franchises. The company also creates games based on third-party franchises, such as Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda and Fire Emblem, and Kodansha’s Attack on Titan.

NC Corp is a South Korean video-game developer and publisher. Its games include Lineage, Blade & Soul and Guild Wars.

XD Inc is an investment holding company. It is principally engaged in the development, operation, publishing and distribution of mobile and web games and operation of TapTap, a game community and platform. Its operating segments are game segment, offers game publishing and operating services on its own and via other Distribution Channels. Revenues from the game segment are mainly derived from game publishing and operating services. The TapTap platform segment offers online marketing services to game developers, game publishers, or their agents through the group's self-developed primary game community and platform. It generates majority of revenue from Game segment. Geographically majority of revenue comes from Chinese mainland.

Yoozoo Interactive Co Ltd is a game-based interactive entertainment company. The company implements the strategies of big data, globalization, and quality products to achieve integrated development across four major areas namely globalized game research and development and publishing, IP management, big data and intelligent technology, and pan-entertainment industry investment. It operates using a 'film-game integration' model to deliver a series of products such as films, games, cartoons, fiction, and commercial property, building a globalized ecosystem for the pan-entertainment industry.

Embracer Group AB is a parent company of businesses led by entrepreneurs in PC, console, mobile, and board games and other related media. The Group has an extensive catalog of several owned or controlled franchises and has a presence in various regions through its operative groups, namely THQ Nordic, Plaion, Coffee Stain, Amplifier Game Invest, and others. Its operating segments are: PC/Console Games, Mobile Games, and Entertainment & Services. Maximum revenue is derived from the Entertainment & Services segment, which is engaged in the development, publishing, and distribution of comic books, wholesale of publishing titles of games for console and PC, as well as films, and externally distributes films and TV series. Geographically, the Group generates maximum revenue from the USA.

Hangzhou Shunwang Technology Co Ltd develops and sells Internet entertainment networking platforms. It focuses mainly on internet cafe technology development. It offers IcafeMavin, a software platform for Internet café management; system virtual disk, an operating system solution for diskless Internet cafes; and Game virtual disk, a game virtual service software for Internet cafes, as well as other Internet café integration solutions.

Modern Times Group (MTG) is a Swedish gaming group headquartered in Stockholm that owns and operates mobile and PC game studios, with A and B shares listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. Its studios include Plarium, maker of RAID: Shadow Legends, PlaySimple, a word- and casual-games developer acquired in 2021, InnoGames, Hutch, Ninja Kiwi (acquired 2021, known for Bloons TD), Snowprint and Futureplay. Most games are free to play, so revenue comes from in-app purchases and in-game advertising. MTG traces its origins to TV3, which Kinnevik launched in Sweden on New Year's Eve 1987 as Scandinavia's first commercial channel; its media assets were distributed to Kinnevik shareholders and listed in 1997. The group spun off its Nordic broadcasting and streaming arm as Nordic Entertainment Group (now Viaplay Group) in 2019 and sold esports operator ESL to Saudi Arabia's Savvy Gaming Group in 2022. In November 2024 it agreed to buy Plarium from Aristocrat Leisure for $620 million. In 2025 it reported record net sales of SEK 11,579 million and adjusted EBITDA of SEK 2,648 million, with 9% organic growth. Maria Redin is president and CEO.

PearlAbyss Corp is a game development studio. Its game includes Black Desert Online.

Paradox Interactive AB is a Swedish company. It is engaged in the development and publishing of PC-based games. The company's product portfolio includes franchise brands such as Stellaris, Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings, Cities, Skylines, Tyranny and Magicka. Paradox is also involved in the publishing and internal development of games and licensing of White Wolf's brands. The company distributes its games through the digital platform Steam as well as on Apple, Google Play, and Sony stores. It operates its business across the world. The majority of the company's revenue comes from the United States.

Shift Up Corp is a game design and development studio that covers a wide range of areas from game production to promotional videos and music production, based on illustrations and solid planning and programming capabilities.

NHN operates IT-related businesses across Korea, Japan, the United States, and China. Its activities include gaming, payment services, advertising, commerce, technology services, and digital content operations.

Sichuan Xun You Network Technology Co Ltd is an online game accelerator. The company solves the problem that players encounter excessive delays in online games, difficulty in login, and easy to drop.

Playtika is an Israeli mobile games developer and publisher headquartered in Herzliya and listed on Nasdaq under the ticker PLTK. Its free-to-play titles include Bingo Blitz, Slotomania, House of Fun, Caesars Slots, June's Journey, Solitaire Grand Harvest, Best Fiends, Board Kings, Pirate Kings, Redecor and World Series of Poker, and it earns revenue from players' purchases of virtual currency and items. Founded in 2010 by Robert Antokol and Uri Shahak around social casino games, it was bought by Caesars Entertainment in 2011 and in 2016 was sold to a Chinese consortium led by Shi Yuzhu's Giant at a $4.4 billion valuation. It then diversified into casual games through acquisitions including Jelly Button (2017), Wooga (2018), Seriously (2019), JustPlay.LOL (2022), Youda Games and Innplay Labs (2023) and SuperPlay (2024). Playtika completed its initial public offering in January 2021 at $27 per share. For 2025 it reported revenue of $2,755.4 million and adjusted EBITDA of $753.2 million, with casual games generating 70.8% of revenue and Bingo Blitz and Slotomania about 35%; average daily paying users rose to 370,000.

DoubleUGames Co Ltd is a Korea-based game development company. It offers multiple gaming products such as DoubleU casino game and DoubleU bingo game and others. The company also provides Wookie Casino, a social casino game, as well as bingo, and slot machines games. In addition, it distributes its products domestically and in international markets.

GungHo Online Entertainment Inc is a Japanese company that plans, develops, publishes, and distributes online video games. Its portfolio includes games for smartphones, PCs, consoles, and handheld gaming devices. The company operates across several business segments, including the operation and distribution of smartphone games; the planning, development, and sale of console games; and the planning, development, licensing, and distribution of PC online games. Additionally, it is involved in the development and delivery of games for smartphones, consoles, and portable gaming platforms.

Ubisoft develops and publishes top-quality video games for play on gaming consoles, PCs, and mobile devices. Its major franchises include Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, Far Cry, Just Dance, The Crew, and Skull & Bones. It also has a license to release games under the Star Wars and Avatar banners, as well as use the Tom Clancy name. The firm also holds the game streaming rights to Activision's existing catalog and any games it develops through 2038. Typically, about half of the firm’s sales come from North America, and 35% from Europe. Furthermore, about 40% of sales are classified as recurring—from in-game purchases—while about 60% are nonrecurring, from the initial game sales.

Everplay Group PLC is a holding company. Along with its subsidiaries, it is engaged in the development and publishing of independent (Indie) premium video games, working simulation games, and the development of educational entertainment apps for children. It is involved in identifying, developing, publishing, distributing, and licensing a mix of first-party and third-party IP games, with some of its IPs being Construction Simulator, Police Simulator, Bus Simulator, and Firefighting Simulator etc. The group's operating segments are Games Label, which develops and publishes video games for the digital and physical market; Simulation, which develops and publishes simulation games for the digital and physical market; and Edutainment, which develops educational entertainment apps for children.

Guangxi Xinxunda Technology Group Co Ltd is engaged in Game software development, game operation and promotion, Internet performing arts and telecommunications business, etc.

Kakao Games Corp is engaged in the business of developing and publishing Mobile and PC games.

Shenzhen Bingchuan Network Co Ltd engages in the development and operation of integrated network online games. Its business activities include the development and sales of computer software and hardware; and provision of computer programming services. The company's products mainly are a personal computer (PC) online games, mobile games.

NetDragon Websoft Holdings Ltd is an investment holding company. Along with its subsidiaries, it operates in the following reportable segments: gaming and application services, the Mynd.ai business, and the property development business. Its gaming and application services segment, which generates the majority of revenue, includes Internet and technology-enabled services, including gaming and software, and related or ancillary services. The mynd.ai business is mainly an overseas education business. Geographically, the group generates maximum revenue from Mainland China and the rest from the United States of America, Europe, and other regions.

Hangzhou Electronic Soul Network Technology Co Ltd is an electronic gaming and multimedia company. It is the mainly engaged in the research and development and operation of online game products. The company's revenue is mainly derived from the end-game product Dream Three Kingdoms.

GRAVITY Co Ltd is an online and mobile games developer and publisher based in Korea. Its principal product, Ragnarok Online, is an online game which is available in more than 91 markets. Its games include Ragnarok Online, Requiem, Dragonica (Dragon Saga), Ragnarok Online II, Requiem Online, and R.O.S.E. Online. The company generates revenue from online games, mobile games and other sources including character based merchandise and animation.

Soft-World International Corp is engaged in the digital content point service platforms, production and publication of computer game magazines, commercial advertising services and the retail sale of entertainment products and accessories for game software. The Corporation also acts as an agent for games and commercial software. Its segments include Soft-World International Corporation; Chinese Gamer International Corporation; Game Flier International Corporation; Neweb Technologies; Efun Corporation; and Others. It operates in China, Taiwan and other countries. The company derives maximum revenue from Soft-World International Corporation segment.

Coffee Stain Group AB is a Scandinavian game developer and publisher with a portfolio of community-driven PC, console, and mobile games. The Group develops, publishes, and manages intellectual property rights for computer, video, and mobile games, with intellectual properties including Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Deep Rock Galactic, Valheim, Teardown, and Welcome to Bloxburg. The Group consists of game studios, including Coffee Stain, Ghost Ship, and Tuxedo Labs, and operates in Sweden, the USA, Europe excluding Sweden, and other regions.

PlayWay SA is a producer and publisher of computer and mobile games in Poland. The company provides with various games including Out of Reach: Treasure Royale, Car Manufacture, Schizm 3: Nemezis And Split among others.

Shenzhen Zqgame Network Co Ltd is an online gaming company. The company focuses on the development, distribution and operation of online games, especially mobile game products. It provides entertainment experiences across online, mobile, and tablet platforms for the hardcore gamer.

Wemade Co Ltd is a Korea-based company develops online and mobile game software. It offers online games such as ICARUS, Legend of Mir2, Legend of Mir3 and Chunryongki and it offers mobile game such as Wind runner, God's martial arts and Wind soul. The amazing library of games not only provides fun and enjoyment for customers in Korea but also all over the world. In addition, the group is also engaged in the publishing activities.

GuangZhou Wahlap Technology Co Ltd is engaged in the design, research and development, production, sales, and operation of game entertainment equipment.

Sohu.com Ltd provides online media, games, and search products and services on PCs and mobile devices in China. The company operates in Sohu and Changyou segments. Sohu is an online media content and services provider. Through its social features, Sohu also enables users to generate and distribute content, as well as interact with each other on a platform. Changyou is an online game developer and operator. It generates maximum revenue from the Changyou segment.