What just happened? Opera released the world’s “first” gaming browser back in 2019: Opera GX. It features RAM and CPU usage limiters, a dedicated tab for tracking game release dates, and several other features designed to appeal to PC gamers. However, Opera’s gaming ambitions don’t stop there: it has just purchased YoYo Games, the folks behind one of the most newbie-friendly game engines on the market; GameMaker Studio 2.
This news was announced on Opera’s official blog today, so it seems the acquisition went through fairly recently.
With YoYo Games under its wing, Opera has created a new division, aptly called “Opera Gaming.” Its core focus will be on “expanding Opera’s reach and capabilities within the gaming space,” whatever that means.
Opera EVP of Browsers Krystian Kolondra hopes YoYo Games’ acquisition will allow it to find “future synergies” between Opera GX and GameMaker, though, again, it’s difficult to determine what that could mean.
Perhaps Opera is planning a bit of cross-advertising? GX’s “GX Corner” tab would certainly be the perfect place for that sort of thing, if so.
Maybe Opera is hoping that the engine’s novice-friendly nature will gain the attention of GX-using PC gamers who might have an interest in entering the development side of the industry. Only time will tell, ultimately.
As far as I can remember, I’ve never heard of a browser maker buying any gaming company, let alone one that makes its own fairly popular game engine.
As such, it’ll be interesting to see where this acquisition takes Opera and YoYo in the future — will they thrive, or will it end up being a big mistake? Only time will tell.