Deca Games

Last updated

Deca Games
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
Founded2016;10 years ago (2016)
FounderKen Go
Headquarters
Berlin
,
Germany
RevenueIncrease2.svg €156.05 million [1]  (2022)
Number of employees
814 [1]  (2022)
Parent Embracer Group (2020–present)
Subsidiaries
  • A Thinking Ape Entertainment
  • Crazy Labs
Website decagames.com

Deca Games, stylized as DECA, is a German video games publisher and developer headquartered in Berlin. The company's focus is on acquiring and operating older free-to-play games as a service.

Contents

The company has also acquired a number of free-to-play mobile games, including DragonVale and multiple titles from Japanese publisher GREE (including Crime City, Knights and Dragons, Modern War and Kingdom Age). [2] [3]

History

Ken Go, formerly general manager for Kabam's European headquarters, founded Deca Games in 2016 to handle live-operations for games. It acquired the massively multiplayer online shooter Realm of the Mad God from Kabam at that time. [4] [5]

In October 2019, Deca Games acquired mobile games Crime City, Kingdom Age, Knights and Dragons, and Modern War from Japanese publisher GREE. [3] At the end of 2019, Deca Games acquired DragonVale from Hasbro, who closed down the game's developer Backflip Studios. [6]

In August 2020, Deca was acquired by Embracer Group, which made it as the sixth operative group in the company to focus on free-to-play mobile games. [7] In November, Deca acquired Canadian companies A Thinking Ape and IUGO Mobile Entertainment. [8] In August 2021, Embracer acquired CrazyLabs, an Israeli mobile games company, and put in under Deca Games' operating group. [9] In October, Deca acquired Jufeng, a game developer of Chinese company Gaea, and two games from Canadian developer Hothead Games. [10] On February 21, 2023, Deca Games acquired the rights to various games developed by Next Games, including The Walking Dead: No Man's Land , due to Next Games' acquisition by Netflix. [11]

Beginning in 2024, Deca began the process of taking over development of Star Trek Online from Cryptic Studios, with several Cryptic Studios personnel transitioning to Deca. Cryptic Studios was reorganized under Deca Games as a support studio. IUGO Mobile Entertainment, a former subsidiary, was shut down by Embracer Group in March 2025. On November 26, 2025, Embracer announced that Arc Games and Cryptic Studios had been divested through a management buyout, under a company named Project Golden Arc. [12]

Games

A Thinking Ape:

Jufeng Studio:

Hothead Games:

References

  1. 1 2 "Embracer Annual Report & Sustainability Report 2021-2022" (PDF).
  2. ↑ McAloon, Alissa (March 17, 2020). "Deca Games acquires DragonVale following Backflip Studios closure". www.gamasutra.com.
  3. 1 2 Jordan, Jon (October 17, 2019). "Deca Games plays F2P's long tail, buying 4 one-time hits from GREE". pocketgamer.biz.
  4. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (October 28, 2019). "One company's cast-off can be Deca Games' treasure". GamesIndustry.biz.
  5. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (August 17, 2017). "Kabam vet leads Deca Games' charge into live operations for old games". VentureBeat .
  6. ↑ McAloon, Alissa (March 17, 2020). "Deca Games acquires DragonVale following Backflip Studios closure". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  7. ↑ Romano, Sal (August 13, 2020). "Embracer Group acquires 4A Games, DECA Games, New World Interactive, Palindrome Interactive, Pow Wow Entertainment, Rare Earth Games, Sola Media, and Vermila Studios". Gematsu.
  8. ↑ Chan, Kenneth (December 10, 2020). "Vancouver gaming studios Thinking Ape and IUGO Mobile acquired by Swedish firm | Business & Tech". Daily Hive . Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Israeli gaming startup CrazyLabs acquired by Sweden's Embracer Group". CTECH . August 5, 2021. Archived from the original on June 19, 2025. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  10. ↑ Boyadzhieva, Yanitsa (October 14, 2021). "Embracer clutches games studio Jufeng". Mobile World Live. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  11. ↑ "What's Happening to No Man's Land?". DECA Games. February 21, 2023. Archived from the original on April 7, 2024. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  12. ↑ Robinson, Andy (November 26, 2025). "Embracer sells two more companies from its acquisition spree era, as Remnant and Neverwinter firms offloaded". VGC. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
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