Robert Antokol and Uri Shahak founded Playtika in 2010 in Herzliya, Israel. Shahak is the son of former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and Israeli Minister Amnon Lipkin-Shahak. The company launched with a focus on social casino games, developing slot machine and casino-style games for Facebook and other social platforms at a time when social gaming was experiencing rapid growth.
In May 2011, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the American casino and hotel company, acquired Playtika. Antokol remained as CEO, and the company continued to operate as an independent unit within Caesars. The acquisition gave Playtika access to Caesars' established casino brand names, including the Caesars Casino game, and provided resources for international expansion.
In July 2016, a Chinese consortium acquired Playtika from Caesars Entertainment for $4.4 billion, one of the largest acquisitions of an Israeli technology company at the time. The consortium, which included entities associated with Chinese gaming and entertainment interests, maintained Playtika's operational independence and kept Antokol in the CEO role. The acquisition provided capital for the aggressive acquisition strategy that followed.
In January 2018, Playtika established a $400 million investment fund focused on Israeli mobile and digital entertainment companies, signaling the company's ambition to become a platform for the Israeli gaming ecosystem beyond its own titles.
In October 2017, Playtika made its first casual gaming acquisition, purchasing Israeli-based Jelly Button Games. In December 2018, the company acquired Berlin-based Wooga, a casual games studio known for story-driven mobile games including June's Journey. In January 2019, Playtika acquired Vienna-based Super Treat, a casual games developer. In August 2019, Playtika acquired Seriously, a Finnish mobile game company and publisher of Best Fiends, a cartoon-style puzzle game that had launched in 2014 and built a substantial player base.
In January 2021, Playtika completed its initial public offering on NASDAQ, raising approximately $2.16 billion at $27 per share. The IPO was one of the largest technology IPOs of that period and gave the Chinese consortium investors a partial exit while providing Playtika with public market currency for future acquisitions.
In January 2023, Playtika made an unsolicited proposal to acquire Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish company behind the Angry Birds franchise, for approximately $736 million. Rovio's board stated it had not been aware of the approach, and discussions concluded without an agreement in March 2023. Rovio was subsequently acquired by Sega for approximately $775 million.
In August 2023, Playtika agreed to acquire the Youda Games portfolio from Azerion for between $89.4 million and $165 million. In September 2023, the company announced the acquisition of Innplay Labs, a Tel Aviv-based mobile games studio, for an upfront fee of $80 million with potential additional payments of up to $300 million based on performance milestones.
In January 2024, Playtika reduced its headcount by approximately 10%, affecting 300 to 400 employees primarily located outside Israel, as part of a cost management initiative.
In November 2024, Playtika completed the acquisition of SuperPlay, a Tel Aviv-based mobile gaming studio behind the hit games Dice Dreams and Domino Dreams. SuperPlay's titles had reached a combined 1.7 million average daily active users as of August 2024. The acquisition was structured to allow SuperPlay's founders, Gilad Almog and Eyal Katz, to continue leading the studio as an independent unit within Playtika.
For fiscal year 2024, Playtika reported total revenue of $2.549 billion and net income of $162.2 million. The company's direct-to-consumer platform revenue grew 8% year over year to $694.2 million, reflecting the company's strategy of building direct relationships with its most engaged players outside of third-party app stores.