Balatro Publisher is Being Acquired by GameSpot Owner

Playstack, the publisher of Balatro, is being acquired by Integrated Media Company, the owner of GameSpot, at a $169 million valuation.

According to a report by Game Developer, TruFin has agreed to sell 84.5 percent of Playstack Limited to VantageCo, a subsidiary of Integrated Media Company. The enterprise value of Playstack has been set at £125 million ($169 million). TruFin will receive approximately £112.4 million in net cash proceeds, including a receivable of £112.4 million, while the remaining £15.6 million will be a repayment from Playstack of a loan owed to TruFin Holdings.

The CEO of TruFin, James van den Bergh, stated:

“We believe the disposal of Playstack represents a milestone for TruFin and a clear demonstration of our disciplined approach to capital allocation and value creation. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the Playstack team over the last few years and look forward to them achieving future success.

“IMC is a superb platform for the next stage in Playstack’s journey and we wish the team at IMC well for the future.”

The CEO of Playstack, Harvey Elliot, also provided a statement:

I’m excited to share that Playstack is entering its next chapter with a new investment partner. In practical terms, this is a change in ownership rather than a change in who we are. Our team, our strategy, and our commitment to publishing premium indie games remain exactly the same.

For now, it’s business as usual.

I sincerely thank TruFin for being an invaluable partner over the past seven years, helping us reach this exciting next step.

I’m looking forward to sharing more about the future with you all soon.

The Game Developer report reveals that Playstack has grossed over $100 million in revenue on Steam and achieved more than 20 million downloads across its game catalog in the last fiscal year.

In other news, LocalThunk has penned a full accounting of his journey to success with the creation of Balatro – but it wasn’t all plain sailing. What are your thoughts on Balatro publisher being acquired by the GameSpot owner? Leave your thoughts down in the comments, and join the official Insider Gaming Discord server.

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