Budge Studios’ app portfolio includes titles featuring many leading brands like Barbie, Paw Patrol, Transformers, Hot Wheels, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake and Hello Kitty, among others. The company’s apps have been downloaded more than 1.25 billion times, it has tens of millions of monthly active users and over 300k recurring subscribers.
The acquisition expands Tilting Point’s audience and enables Tilting Point to enter a new, fast growing edutainment vertical. As with all of Tilting Point’s acquisitions, Budge’s leadership team and 129 employees will continue to operate independently, only now with Tilting Point’s publishing power providing significant amplification opportunities for all of its games. The combined company will also be able to leverage its larger scale for better access to opportunities with major brands for licensing and with platform partners for distribution.
Budge is well known for its games featuring popular IP, including the 2019 Kidscreen Award Winner for Best Branded Kids App, Barbie’s Dreamhouse Adventures. The company’s apps are targeted at the 3-13 year old audience and incorporate puzzles, creative games, and vibrant characters that make daily activities, such as bedtime routines, exciting.
“We love what Budge has built in the kids space,” said Kevin Segalla, founder and Co-CEO of Tilting Point. “Budge’s decade-long laser focus on the children’s audience, with over 50 successful apps, is very impressive and is a great addition to our catalog. We look forward to merging our publishing expertise with their great content to truly amplify Budge’s potential.”
The acquisition will provide Budge with the power of Tilting Point’smarketing expertise and tech, improvements to live ops, more IP integrations and expansions onto more platforms for its award-winning portfolio. Tilting Point will benefit from Budge’s 10+ years of experience serving children and families, including their commitment to children’s privacy and online safety.
“Joining the Tilting Point family is an exciting and huge opportunity for Budge,” said David Lipes, Co-CEO of Budge. “With this acquisition, we will continue operating independently to develop the best creative content, plus have even more access to globally-recognized IP and a greater ability to bring our games to even more children worldwide.”
Tilting Point has consistently accelerated success for mobile game developers, scaling their games through UA funding and management, app store optimization (ASO), ad monetization, platform deployment and more, then teaming up with existing partners to deepen relationships through co-development and M&A. Tilting Point’s other recent acquisitions have continued to expand the company’s reach across geographies, audiences and platforms, including Korea-based Sci-Fi strategy game experts AN Games, mobile games and assets from gambling technology software leader Playtech plc., including the San Diego-based FTX Games, hit titles Star Trek: Timelines and TerraGenesis, as well as LTV Tech Platform Gondola.