DoubleDown Interactive to acquire Germany’s WHOW Games
Online games developer and publisher DoubleDown Interactive has agreed to a deal to acquire social casino games business WHOW Games for an initial price of €55 million ($64.7 million).
The agreement includes an additional earn-out payment of up to €10 million. This will be payable at $5 million annually, contingent on WHOW Games meeting certain yearly performance targets.
As part of the deal, DoubleDown will secure a 100% ownership interest in WHOW. It brokered the agreement with Europe-facing digital advertising and entertainment media platform Azerion Tech Holding.
DoubleDown plans to leverage WHOW Games’ expertise in European markets and its partner-driven business model. Alongside its own operations, marketing capabilities and gaming content, it said the acquisition will enable it to pursue growth opportunities in Europe, with a primary focus on Germany.
Founded in 2014, WHOW Games has developed and operates a range of social casino apps. These include the MyJackpot and Lounge777 brands as well as third-party-labelled social casino offerings.
During its 2024 calendar year, the developer reported €41.8 million in unaudited revenue.
DoubleDown, which will finance the acquisition with cash reserves, expects the deal to close in Q3 of 2025.
DoubleDown talks up ‘valuable synergies’
Keuk Kim, CEO of DoubleDown, said the purchase would unlock “valuable synergies” for the company. Kim said these will be achieved by leveraging operational expertise, marketing, game content and development resources.
“This acquisition marks a significant step toward increasing our competitiveness in the growing German social casino market,” Kim said. “We are delighted to welcome the WHOW Games team to DoubleDown. We look forward to working collaboratively on initiatives to drive growth across the business.”
WHOW Games CEO Giovanni Valerio Valeriota also welcomed the acquisition deal. He said: “We are excited to begin this new chapter as part of the DoubleDown family. Their deep expertise in gaming makes them a natural fit for WHOW Games and we believe that this partnership will accelerate our growth and innovation.
“I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Azerion, whose support and strategic guidance during our time together has been instrumental in shaping WHOW Games into the strong and dynamic company it is today.”