Outright Games, the market leading children’s and family video games publisher, targets global dominance with new financial backer EMK capital

The leading publisher of licensed kids video games has secured investment to strengthen its position in the global market, continuing to invest in the quality of its titles and building its offering across mobile and streaming platforms

London, 10th August 2021 — Outright Games, the leading global publisher of licensed kids’ interactive entertainment, has today announced that its private equity partner, Rockpool Investments, has sold its shareholding to UK-based private equity fund, EMK Capital. The deal will support this British success story and the future prospects of the Company, with the aim to accelerate an already impressive strategy and trajectory. As Outright Games continues to outperform expectations, this marks a seminal moment in the company’s ambitious roadmap going forward.

With rapid growth seen across the global gaming industry over the past decade, Outright Games has cemented its position as the leading publisher of licensed video games for kids and families, publishing titles from some of the biggest names in entertainment including Nickelodeon, Sony Pictures, NBC Universal and Cartoon Network.

Outright Games has seen incredible growth over its short 5-year history, recording a record year in 2020 which culminated in Q4 revenue of £22m, an increase of 75% from the same time in the previous year. Publishing titles across all major gaming platforms, success has been driven by video game releases in collaboration with their big-name partnerships across the kids’ entertainment industry, including upcoming releases of My Friend Peppa Pig, and Fast& Furious: Spy Racers.

Rockpool Investments invested in Outright Games in 2016 providing growth capital to an already successful and ambitious team. Since then, it has expanded its global presence with offices in Los Angeles, London and Madrid.

In a recent report, consultancy firm Accenture estimated that the full value of the gaming industry now exceeds $300 billion, more than the combined markets for movies and music, driven by a surge in mobile gaming and an emphasis on social interaction. The number of players has increased by half a billion in the past three years and now totals 2.7 billion people globally. Kids’ games represent a core demographic in this market.

Outright will look to further develop the already impressive output of video game titles coming from the British publisher, as it seeks to triple their total existing portfolio of over 18 titles by the end of 2023, continuing to work alongside their world class roster of partners and licensors and bring in new and exciting entertainment behemoths to work with.

Outright Games is led by Terry Malham, Founder and Chief Executive Officer supported by Nick Button-Brown, Chair, and a strong accompanying management team. Terry has over 40 years’ experience of working in the computer games industry and has previously held MD roles with companies such as Little Orbit, Logic Computers and CDV Games UK. Nick helped grow and scale Improbable, Sensible Object and Crytek, served as the Chair of the Games Committee at BAFTA and has over 20 years’ experience in the games industry. They and the existing team will continue with the business.

Ben Hutchinson, Investment Manager at Rockpool Investments, said: “With Rockpool’s support, the superb Management team at Outright have managed to create a break-out, market leading success story. This transaction perfectly demonstrates how Rockpool’s strategy to invest in agile, fast-growing and profitable companies can create both superb investor returns and market leading businesses, ready and primed for their next phase of growth. We are very proud to have been part of the first chapter of the Outright Games success story and wish the company every success in the future.”

Terry Malham, CEO at Outright Games added; “When founding Outright Games we looked to bring high quality, licensed family-friendly entertainment which we felt the video game sector was lacking. Rockpool’s initial investment was a key part of our continued success over the past four years, and we are thankful for their support so far. As we look on to our next chapter, we see incredible potential in continuing to invest in the quality of our titles, while expanding to embrace the future of cloud-based streaming and mobile gaming.”