A game with no winners

In December 2016, one particular acquisition slid past most of mainstream media’s eye in India. It was a small deal, after all, just $8.5 million. Starbreeze Studios, a Swedish game developer, acquired Dhruva Interactive, a 20-year-old gaming services company. $8.5 million isn’t a lot of money, so it is easy to brush it off as a small deal. Except, if you think about the kind of company that Dhruva is and the business it is in, you will probably appreciate it a little more.

Rajesh Rao, Dhruva’s 46-year-old founder, has worked on some of the biggest game titles—Microsoft Studios’ Forza Motorsport and Remedy Entertainment’s Quantum Break, among many others.

AUTHOR

Arundhati Ramanathan

Arundhati is Bengaluru-based. She is interested in how people use money in the digital age and how new economies will take shape based on that interaction. She has spent over 10 years reporting and writing on various subjects. Previous stints were at Mint, Outlook Business and Reuters.

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