Enad Global 7 acquires Daybreak Game Company

Last week, games industry conglomerate Enad Global 7 (EG7) announced the acquisition of Piranha Games, the developer behind the Mechwarrior series. Today, EG7 added yet another studio to its growing roster in the form of Everquest, PlanetSide, and H1Z1 developer Daybreak Game Company. Reportedly, the deal is worth an estimated $300 million.

”We are thrilled to be welcoming Daybreak into the EG7 family today,” Robin Flodin, CEO and co-founder of EG7, said in a statement. “Daybreak is a company that I have the utmost admiration for, not only for their games but the teams behind those games and services. Together we have bold and exciting plans for the future and I look forward to making those dreams a reality for gamers all over the world.”

Founded in 1997, Daybreak was originally known as Sony Online Entertainment. However, the company was sold by Sony in 2015, resulting in a rebranding to Daybreak Game Company. 

“On behalf of the Daybreak team and all of our players, we are elated to be joining the EG7 family,” Jason Epstein, executive chairman of Daybreak, said in a statement. “The combined companies are strategically positioned to expand Daybreak’s unique and iconic portfolio of live games and will help amplify our passion for making great games for our awesome communities. I look forward to working closely with the team at EG7 to continue to deliver incredible experiences for our players around the world.”

EG7’s purchase of Daybreak also comes with Cold Iron Studios, which Daybreak purchased from Scopely in August as part of Scopely’s larger acquisition of FoxNext Games in January.

The last couple years have been rough on Daybreak; 2019 saw three rounds of layoffs for the company, including one in October of that year that resulted in upwards of 70 lost jobs. In an attempt at recovery, Daybreak restructured itself in January to focus on its more notable IPs.

“From top to bottom, this is a fresh beginning but it’s not a reboot or rebrand,” Daybreak’s Jack Emmert told GameDaily at the time. “We took a critical look at what was best for our franchises and it was abundantly clear that the development teams are the best overseers of our portfolio, guiding the content’s creativity and operations. In livestreams, forums, social channels and gameplay, they are interacting with the players.”

With Daybreak now under the EG7 banner, it will be interesting to see what becomes of its beloved IPs. More important than that, though, is that hopefully Daybreak doesn’t experience any further layoffs as part of the acquisition. It’s been a rough couple of years for Daybreak, and it would be nice if the EG7 purchase represented a new start for the embattled studio.