Gaming Takeovers Chase Coders, Not Goblins

The Chinese internet company Tencent is reportedly close to acquiring the Finnish mobile game developer Supercell at a valuation of $9 billion. The possible deal is evidence that the mobile game business is coming of age. But the companies operating in it are not for the average investor, and trying to take them public makes little sense.

The country may have been better known for the handset provider Nokia, but Supercell is a showcase for Finnish tech prowess. The company once borrowed 400,000 euros ($450,000) from the Finnish government so it could get going; last year it made a profit of 848 million euros on 2.1 billion euros in revenue. Most of that comes from goblin-filled Clash of Clans, one of the most commercially successful mobile apps in history. It's a game in which groups of players can create wealth for their "clans" and face off against each other in wars. Supercell still only has 180 employees, and boasts of its "bureaucracy-free environment"; the company is as developer-centric as it gets.