The third quarter of 2026 belonged to the megadeals of gaming, according to a quarterly gaming M&A and investment report by Drake Star Partners.

During the quarter, Electronic Arts went private in a $55 billion deal. Paramount bought Warner Bros., including its billion-dollar-a-year gaming business, for $110 billion. And China’s Alibaba exited its stake in Lingxi games for more than $1.5 billion.

During the quarter, gaming stocked rallied by about 15% in value in the public stock markets. And underneath the big deals, 45 M&A transactions added up to $2.4 billion in value during the quarter, said Michael Metzger, managing partner at Drake Star Partners.

As for upcoming attention grabbers for gaming, Metzger said that the pending November 19 launch of Grand Theft Auto VI could be so big it could push gaming higher into mass culture and draw more investor to the sector, resulting in a more positive investment climate. However, layoffs were still pervasive during the quarter with major layoffs or studio shutdowns happening virtually every week during Q3. That’s one the issues we will focus on at our GamesBeat Next 2026 event coming on November 2-3 in San Francisco.

“Investor interest in he sector should build into year-end, with GTA VI’s November 19 launch likely to lift sentiment across publishes, platforms and the wider gaming ecosystem,” the report said.

On the other hand, just Take-Two and Rockstar Games will be the primary beneficiaries of the revenue growth.

“We expect gaming M&A to stay resilient through year end, as strategic and financial buyers pursue scale, proven IP and recurring revenue, and large groups continue divesting non-core assets,” Metzger said.

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