YoYo Games is a British software development company based in Dundee, Scotland. From February 2015 to January 2021, the company was owned by

Playtech Playtech plc is a gambling software development company founded in 1999. The company provides software for online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo games, online sports betting, scratch games, mobile gaming, live dealer games and fixed ...

, it was then sold to

Opera Software Opera is a Norwegian multinational technology company and subsidiary of Kunlun that specializes in web browser development, fintech, as well as services such as Opera News and YoYo Games. The company's total user base, including users of its ...

to launch its new gaming division.

History

YoYo Games was founded in 2007 by Michel Cassius, Sandy Duncan, Spencer Hyman and James North-Hearn, former

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

and

video game industry The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstrea ...

executives. Duncan was appointed

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of the company. On 26 January 2007, Mark Overmars announced his partnership with a company based in Dundee, Scotland, called YoYo Games. The company established its European office in Dundee in May 2010 by opening an office within

Abertay University , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of C ...

with two team members. The company currently employs more than 25 employees. YoYo Games has announced plans to create an additional 25 positions, over the next 18 months, in systems development, software engineering, sales and customer service. The employees will be hired to help the company keep pace with the rapid evolution of the global games market and demand for Game Maker: Studio. To accommodate this expansion, in June 2013, YoYo Games moved from its old location within Abertay University into new office space on Dundee’s Waterfront redevelopment. On 16 February 2015 it was announced that

acquired YoYo Games for £10.65 million (USD$16.4 million). Shortly thereafter, Duncan stepped down from his position. He was later replaced by James Cox as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, who himself stepped down in October 2018 to be replaced by Stuart Poole in January 2019. Playtech sold YoYo Games to

for in January 2021. Opera announced with YoYo's acquisition, it was launching a new Opera Gaming division alongside their browser software. In February 2021, Stuart Poole left the role of General Manager and Russell Kay was named Senior Product Director (Head of GameMaker)

References

External links

* {{Opera Software AS Video game companies of the United Kingdom Video game development companies British companies established in 2007 Video game companies established in 2007 2007 establishments in Scotland Companies based in Dundee 2015 mergers and acquisitions 2021 mergers and acquisitions Opera Software British subsidiaries of foreign companies