Wordle goes to New York Times; Sony buys Halo maker Bungie; IT services M&A deals surge to nearly $300 billion

Wordle, the super hit online web-only word game, has been bought by The New York Times, according to a tweet by the game’s creator Josh Wardle. New York Times will integrate the daily word puzzle into its suite of word games, Wardle said. Sony has bought video game maker Bungie for $3.6 billion. Plus, IT sector M&A and PE deals saw strong interest in 2021. Notes: New York Times buys online word game Wordle Wordle, the super hit online web-only word game, has been bought by The New York Times, according to a tweet by the game’s creator Josh Wardle. New York Times will integrate the daily word puzzle into its Games suite of word games, Wardle said. Wordle will “initially remain free to new and existing players” once it moves to the Times’ website, and Wardle says that he’s working with The New York Times to preserve players’ existing wins and streak data once the game is taken over by the newspaper. Sony strikes deal to buy Halo maker Bungie for $3.6 billion Sony Interactive Entertainment said yesterday that it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Bungie, a premier independent videogame developer best known as the creator of Halo and Destiny, in a deal worth $3.6 billion. This acquisition will give Sony access to Bungie’s world-class approach to live game services and technology expertise, furthering Sony’s ambition to reach billions of players. Bungie will continue to operate independently, maintaining the ability to self-publish and reach players wherever they choose to play. Its 900 employees are currently focused on the long-term development of the hugely successful Destiny 2, expanding the Destiny universe, and creating entirely new worlds in future intellectual property, according to the press release. Google’s integrated Gmail view will roll out from next week Google is introducing a new, integrated view for Gmail, making it easy to move between applications like Gmail, Chat and Meet in one place, the company said in a blogpost yesterday. Beginning February 8, users can opt-in to test the new experience and get used to it. By April, users who have not opted-in will begin seeing the new layout by default but can revert to classic Gmail via settings. By the end of Q2, meaning by June 30, the new layout will become the standard experience for Gmail, with no option to revert. IT M&A and PE deals in 2021 added up to more than $297 billion Mergers and acquisitions in the IT industry saw a strong increase last year as demand for cloud and digital technologies accelerated due to the Covid pandemic, Nasscom, India’s IT industry lobby, said in a press release yesterday. Overall, the IT industry saw 1,200 M&A and private equity deals worth $297 billion in 2021, with deals typically in the $20 million to $50 million range. There were also some very large deals worth over $1 billion, according to Nasscom. LoadShare Networks raises $40 million in funding led by Tiger Global LoadShare Networks, one of India’s fastest growing asset-lite logistics platforms, said today that it has raised a Series C investment of Rs. 300 crore ($40 million), led by Tiger Global and with participation from Filter Capital, 57 Stars and existing investors CDC Group Plc and Matrix Partners India. A few prominent family offices also participated in the round. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds