Opera Starts a Gaming Division

Web browser maker Opera has acquired Scotland-based YoYo Games for $10 million and is launching its Opera Gaming division. For some reason.

“YoYo Games, the company behind GameMaker[,] is now part of Opera,” the firm announced. “GameMaker Studio 2 is a fantastic platform that allows anyone, [sic] from a high school student to a pro to create games and then export them from a single codebase to various platforms, including Desktop, Mobile, Web[,] and Consoles. This means that whether you’re an advanced developer or a beginner, you can use GameMaker Studio 2 to create your next 2D game.”

I’m not sure I was even aware of this, but in addition to its mainstream web browser, Opera also offers the Opera GX browser for gaming. This browser features “countless customization options, sound effects, background music, a gaming-inspired design, as well as CPU, RAM and Network Bandwidth limiters,” Opera says, noting that “GX is less resource-hungry and leaves more of the computer’s resources for gaming.”

YoYo Games, GameMaker, and Opera GX form the cornerstone of Opera Gaming, which Opera says is a new division focused on expanding Opera’s reach and capabilities within the gaming space.

YoYo Games will continue to be based in Dundee, Scotland, and Opera notes that both general manager Stuart Poole and technical lead Russell Kay will remain with the business.

“It’s been clear to us from the first time we spoke to them that the whole of the team at Opera is incredibly passionate about games,” Mr. Poole said of the acquisition. “Since joining them last week, the positivity and creative energy we are seeing from them has been overwhelming. We have always had big plans for improving GameMaker across all platforms, both from the perspective of improving accessibility and further developing the features available to commercial studios; and now we can’t wait to see them arrive much sooner.”