Softgames has begun acquiring instant and mobile casual games after closing its purchase of Funday Games' back catalogue earlier this year, with the German publisher signalling that additional catalogue and studio deals are in the pipeline.

The company is approaching prospective sellers with a defined shortlist of criteria rather than open-ended M&A mandates. Targets must offer proven audiences, healthy retention and monetisation metrics, and technology stacks that can be integrated quickly into Softgames' existing distribution.

That template — acquire first, integrate fast, monetise at scale — positions Softgames differently from publishers whose recent deals have targeted full studios or single live-service titles.

Instant and casual web games, the segment Funday's catalogue occupies, has re-emerged as a focus area for European publishers as platforms such as Telegram, Discord and Facebook's Instant Games surface renew web distribution for short-session play.

What is Softgames looking for?

The publisher's stated criteria for prospective acquisitions:

• Web and mobile casual titles with established user bases
• Retention and monetisation metrics that hold up against category benchmarks
• Lightweight technology stacks that can be onboarded without a multi-quarter engineering effort
• Catalogs where multiple titles can be folded into a single operating cadence

The Funday Games deal, completed earlier this year, serves as the reference point. By acquiring a back catalogue rather than a single game, Softgames added a portfolio of instant-playable titles in one transaction and gave its existing distribution layer more inventory to monetise.

What does this mean for studios and catalogue holders?

The criteria — explicitly framed around integration speed — tell smaller studios and IP owners what shape a deal needs to take. Teams running sprawling live-service back ends, custom engines or unproven retention are unlikely fits. Teams operating lean catalogues of casual hits with clean metrics have a clearer path to a conversation.

For studios weighing a sale, the calculus now adds a German option alongside established consolidators in the casual mobile space. For competing buyers, the public criteria narrow the field but also flag a competitive dynamic. Any acquirer chasing the same integration-friendly casual inventory is now being measured against the Funday-shaped benchmark.

What changes operationally?

Acquisition-hungry studios in the casual tier can use Softgames' criteria as a checklist before engaging. Retention curves, monetisation unit economics and integration complexity are now auditable preconditions, not negotiable unknowns. Catalogue owners without those answers in hand will need to instrument their titles before a conversation is productive.

For Softgames, the operational challenge is execution: integrating multiple catalogues into one operating layer, keeping live titles healthy, and avoiding the post-acquisition stagnation that hits publishers who acquire faster than they can integrate.

What should the market watch?

The next Softgames transaction will indicate whether the Funday template scales. A single-studio acquisition, a larger multi-title catalogue, or a partnership rather than an outright purchase would each read differently. The publisher has not disclosed a deal count or budget for the year ahead, leaving open whether the strategy is opportunistic or backed by a dedicated M&A fund.