Aristocrat Leisure completes Plarium sale, restructures social gaming business

Australian gaming giant Aristocrat Leisure Ltd has completed the sale of its Plarium Global mobile gaming unit to Modern Times Group (MTG) for $620 million, marking a strategic shift in focus toward regulated gaming and real-money gaming operations. The deal includes an additional $170 million payout if Plarium meets sales targets by 2028.  

Plarium, known for popular free-to-play titles such as Raid: Shadow Legends and Vikings: War of Clans, was acquired by Aristocrat in 2017 for $500 million. In the 12 months ending September 30, 2024, the business generated $613 million in revenue and $137 million in EBITDA.  

“They bring an exciting and highly successful portfolio of live games spearheaded by Raid: Shadow Legends, an exceptional evergreen mid-core IP, to our line-up. Plarium also has best-in-class tools for user acquisition and monetization that will complement our own Flow Platform,” said Maria Redin, CEO of Sweden-based MTG, which also owns gaming companies such as Ninja Kiwi and InnoGames.  

Following a strategic review, Aristocrat will restructure its social gaming segment, previously housed under Pixel United, into a new division called Product Madness.  

The restructuring will see Big Fish Games, another Aristocrat-owned gaming company, undergo significant changes, including no new game development, a substantial reduction in investment, and a focus on efficiently operating existing titles. 

“With the completion of our strategic review, Aristocrat is well-placed to accelerate our refreshed growth strategy,” said CEO Trevor Croker. “We are deepening management focus and targeting investment behind our core strengths in regulated gaming and gaming-themed content.”  

Aristocrat reported AU$6.6 billion ($4.31 billion) in revenue for FY2024, a 4.9% increase year-on-year. Net profit rose 17.2% to $1.56 billion, while EBITDA climbed 18.5% to $2.45 billion.  

The company’s social gaming business, previously under Pixel United, generated $1.75 billion in revenue, with an Adjusted EBITDA of $656 million and $634 million in profit.  

As part of the restructuring, Superna Kalle, Aristocrat’s Chief Strategy Officer, will assume executive leadership of Product Madness while maintaining her existing responsibilities.  

Aristocrat plans to use the proceeds from the Plarium sale to establish a capital management framework, which will contribute to a “gain on sale” in its FY2025 results.