If you have spent years building a media or gaming software company, you know most of your customers by name: the broadcasters, newsrooms, studios or betting operators who have run on your software through more than one product cycle. When a buyer comes along, you need to know what all of that is worth before you hear an offer. A sale should recognize the years you put in.
What it is worth depends on who bids for your company, and the range is wide. Since 2015, 806 media, entertainment and gaming software companies have been acquired. Where terms were published, they sold at a median of 2.49x revenue (29 deals) and 17.9x EBITDA (6 deals). The middle half of the revenue multiples ran from 1.24x to 3.87x, so for the same revenue, some owners received more than three times what others did. This page shows what moves a company toward the top of that range, and who the more than 450 buyers in this segment are.
By media, entertainment and gaming software we mean companies that sell their own software to broadcasters, publishers, studios, game developers, betting and lottery operators, cinemas, venues and content creators:
- Video, broadcast and streaming technology
- Publishing systems and the software media companies use to sell advertising, manage rights and run subscriptions
- Creative tools for visual effects, animation, audio and design
- Game engines, game development tools and B2B betting and casino platforms
- Ticketing and cinema software
Our wider software valuation multiples research covers the other software segments.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming Software Valuation Multiples Compared With All Software
Media and gaming software sells below software as a whole on the revenue multiple. Both multiples divide enterprise value (EV), equity value plus net debt, by revenue or by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization). Buyers apply the EBITDA multiple to adjusted EBITDA, with one-off items and owner costs taken out.
| Media, entertainment and gaming software | All software (Aventis database) | |
|---|---|---|
| Median EV/Revenue | 2.49x (29 deals) | 3.39x (1,028 deals) |
| EV/Revenue, middle half of deals | 1.24x to 3.87x | 2.04x to 5.94x |
| Median EV/EBITDA | 17.9x (6 deals) | 13.6x (382 deals) |
| EV/EBITDA, middle half of deals | see vertical software, 8.3x to 22.5x | 8.6x to 22.0x |
| Median deal size | $19.8M (202 deals) | $23.0M (6,217 deals) |
The spread inside the segment is the stake in a sale: it shows how much depends on your company itself, and on who is bidding for it. Work from the revenue median, which rests on 29 deals. At 2.49x, a company with $10M of revenue comes out at about $25M. The EBITDA median rests on six deals spread across the whole range, so treat it as a rough guide.
A useful point on the two measures: at these medians they give the same value at an EBITDA margin of about 14%. If your margin is higher, valuing you on EBITDA gives the bigger number, so expect a buyer to talk about revenue multiples. If it is lower, it works the other way round.
Timing has moved the revenue multiple. Deals announced from 2021 to 2025 sold at a median of 2.98x revenue (9 deals), against 1.96x for 2015 to 2020 (20 deals). Read that with care: only three revenue multiples were disclosed from 2022 to 2025, so the later figure rests mostly on 2021. All six EBITDA multiples date from 2015 to 2020.
Media, Gaming and Creative Software Valuations by Sub-Segment
Who your customers are matters more than what your product does. Creative and content-creation software accounts for the most deals and the largest typical deal. Video, broadcast and streaming technology carries just over half of the published revenue multiples, while game technology and ticketing have many deals and two published multiples between them.
| Sub-segment | Deals | Median EV/Revenue | EV/Revenue, middle half | Median deal size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video, broadcast and streaming | 196 | 1.92x (15 deals) | 1.15x to 3.72x | $18.5M (63 deals) |
| Publishing, audio and media business software | 174 | 2.19x (8 deals) | see vertical software, 2.00x to 5.73x | $14.3M (34 deals) |
| Creative and content-creation software | 211 | 3.36x (4 deals) | see vertical software, 2.00x to 5.73x | $30.0M (41 deals) |
| Game technology and B2B gaming platforms | 125 | see vertical software, 3.29x (591 deals) | see vertical software, 2.00x to 5.73x | $17.0M (44 deals) |
| Ticketing, cinema, live events and sports | 100 | see vertical software, 3.29x (591 deals) | see vertical software, 2.00x to 5.73x | $24.7M (20 deals) |
The lowest multiples in the record are on software sold to newspapers, pay-TV operators and broadcasters’ back offices: set-top box middleware, resource management systems for broadcasters and digital editions for newspapers. Video delivery technology, broadcasters’ advertising sales systems and publishers’ subscription and content platforms sat in the middle. The highest are on products sold into growing markets: visual effects software, live streaming and two betting technology suppliers. Those two betting deals are the only game technology deals with a published multiple. Both sit well above the segment median, and two deals that far out are no guide to the group, so the table gives the figure for vertical software.
So if your customers are newspapers or pay-TV operators, expect a buyer to start from the low end. If they are moving to streaming, digital subscriptions or online betting, you have growth to sell, and it belongs in front of the buyers who will pay for it.
Games and creative tools are where the recent activity is: 63 of the 125 game technology deals and 108 of the 211 creative software deals were announced since 2021. Strategic buyers lead both. Financial buyers made 13% and 16% of them, the lowest shares in the segment.
Media and Gaming Software Valuation by Company Size
Size moves the revenue multiple unevenly in this segment. Grouped by the target’s revenue, a figure you know long before an offer arrives, the median dips in the middle band and rises above $20M.
| Target revenue | Median EV/Revenue | EV/Revenue, middle half | Median EV/EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $5M | 2.49x (9 deals) | see vertical software, 2.00x to 5.73x | see vertical software, 13.9x (242 deals) |
| $5M to $20M | 1.36x (12 deals) | 0.97x to 3.51x | see vertical software, 13.9x (242 deals) |
| $20M and above | 3.31x (8 deals) | see vertical software, 2.00x to 5.73x | 11.1x (3 deals) |
The middle band is low because most of the pay-TV and broadcast software vendors in the record sit in it, so the customer explains more of the dip than size does.
So where do you sit? If your company has under $20M of revenue, start from the first two rows: a median of 2.49x revenue below $5M and 1.36x from $5M to $20M. At 1.36x, a company with $10M of revenue comes out at about $14M, against about $25M at the segment median. Your customer base decides which end of that you are nearer.
What is your company worth?
Send us four numbers: MRR, revenue growth, churn and EBITDA margin. Within two working days we show you in confidence how your company measures up against 806 media, entertainment and gaming software deals, which buyer groups have acquired companies like yours, and how any offer you hold compares with what they paid where terms are published.
Request your valuation assessment or email the numbers to marcin.majewski@aventis-advisors.com
Where Media and Gaming Software Deals Happen
Two in five companies bought were in the United States, and Europe as a whole (317 deals) accounted for almost as many.
European companies sold for more per dollar of revenue: a median of 3.41x (13 deals) against 2.48x for US companies (12 deals). US deals are larger, with a median deal size of $30.4M against $13.0M outside the US. Part of the European figure is mix: its multiples include several TV app and streaming vendors, while the US multiples include more of the publishing and broadcast back-office vendors at the low end. For you, the buyer who values your company most may well sit in another country.
What Drives a Media, Entertainment or Gaming Software Valuation
These are the questions that move a buyer’s offer for a media or gaming software company.
Your customers’ own market
Newspapers, linear broadcasters and pay-TV operators have lost revenue for a decade and consolidated into larger groups. Buyers price that into the vendors that serve them: bigger customers with more power at renewal, and a base that shrinks when a customer closes or is bought. If your customers are moving to streaming, digital subscriptions or online betting, you are valued on that growth.
Recurring revenue against projects and hardware
Broadcast and video vendors often sell perpetual licenses with servers, installation projects and support. Buyers pay revenue multiples for subscription and support revenue that renews, and value project and hardware revenue on its margin. Expect the first table a buyer builds to split your revenue exactly that way.
Customer concentration
If your five largest broadcasters or operators bring half your revenue, a buyer will show it in the offer, through a lower multiple or an earn-out tied to renewals.
Platform dependence
Game tools depend on engines and console makers, TV apps on smart TV and streaming device platforms, creative plug-ins on host applications. Buyers read the terms of each platform relationship and ask what happens if a platform changes its rules or builds your feature itself.
Licenses and regulation in gaming
Betting and casino platform suppliers hold supplier licenses or certifications in most regulated markets, and their revenue often follows the operators’ gross gaming revenue. Buyers value the licenses you hold and the markets they open. Then they test two things: how much revenue comes from markets where you lack a local license, which a licensed buyer will discount or exclude, and which licenses need the regulator to approve a new owner, which sets the timetable for the deal.
Generative AI and content rights
AI now edits video, writes copy, generates images and music, and clones voices. Buyers ask whether your AI features are priced and paid for, whether content and training data are licensed, and whether AI tools from larger platforms could replace your product. Rights, royalty and music data products depend on accurate catalogs and on agreements with labels, publishers and collecting societies, which buyers read for term, exclusivity and change-of-control clauses.
How we present all this to buyers
A buyer pays for what it can see and check. Part of our work in a sale is to present your business as strongly as the facts allow: recurring revenue set apart from projects and hardware, the trend at your largest customers, and your platform and content agreements. We deal with the weak points before a buyer finds them and uses them to talk the offer down.
Who Is Buying Media, Entertainment and Gaming Software Companies
Buying in this segment is spread across many groups, which is good news for you. Of the 796 companies acquired by a named buyer, counting a company bought in stages once, the twelve most active groups (four tie for ninth place) bought 112, about one in seven.
| Buyer group | Headquarters | Ownership (October 2026) | Media, entertainment and gaming software companies acquired | Other software companies acquired | Total software companies acquired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constellation Software | Toronto | Listed (TSX) | 20 | 782 | 802 |
| Apple | Cupertino, California | Listed (Nasdaq) | 11 | 42 | 53 |
| Epic Games | Cary, North Carolina | Privately held | 10 | 1 | 11 |
| Unity Software | San Francisco | Listed (NYSE) | 9 | 6 | 15 |
| Spotify | Stockholm | Listed (NYSE) | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Alphabet (Google) | Mountain View, California | Listed (Nasdaq) | 9 | 73 | 82 |
| Valsoft | Montreal | Privately held | 8 | 120 | 128 |
| Telestream | Nevada City, California | Privately held | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| Naviga | United States | Privately held | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Amazon | Seattle | Listed (Nasdaq) | 7 | 23 | 30 |
| Microsoft | Redmond, Washington | Listed (Nasdaq) | 7 | 91 | 98 |
| Meta | Menlo Park, California | Listed (Nasdaq) | 7 | 18 | 25 |
These twelve come in three kinds, and each looks at your company from a different angle. Platform companies (Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Spotify, Amazon and Meta) buy technology and teams for their own products, almost all at undisclosed terms, and pay for capability more than for revenue; they made 50 of the 112 deals. Epic Games and Unity, the makers of the Unreal and Unity game engines, bought 19 companies whose tools they have added to their engines and services. Consolidators (Constellation Software, Valsoft, Telestream and Naviga) buy established vendors with recurring revenue, such as publishing and newsroom systems, broadcast sales and traffic software, video workflow tools and ticketing and cinema systems; they made 43 of the 112.
Deal numbers peaked at 104 in 2021, a year after a low of 53, and eased to 59 in 2025. Financial buyers, meaning private equity firms and the companies they own at the time of the deal, made 21% of all deals, against 33% across software. Their share rose from 19% in 2015 to 2020 to 23% in 2021 to 2025.
Private equity buyers show up in the larger deals. Their median deal size is $41.5M (27 deals), against $17.0M (175 deals) for strategic buyers. The published terms come almost entirely from strategic buyers: 28 of the 29 revenue multiples, at a median of 2.73x. There is more on how the two kinds of buyer approach a deal in strategic vs financial buyers.
Approached by a Media and Gaming Software Buyer? How We Turn One Approach into Several Bids
A buyer may contact you before you have decided to sell, and often it is only an email about “exploring a partnership” or a request for an introductory call. That is the moment to talk to us, before you reply.
The approach comes on the buyer’s timetable and on the buyer’s terms, with a single offer on the table, so an owner who answers it alone is negotiating with one party. One buyer’s offer tells you what that buyer would like to pay. Offers from several buyers, made at the same time on the same information, tell you what the business is worth. We get you those offers by running a competitive sale process. Here is what we do.
We bring several buyers to the table at once. A platform company buying a team, an engine maker adding to its tools and a consolidator buying recurring revenue will value the same company differently. When their offers arrive in the same week, you see what the market will pay.
We set the terms for you. Together we decide the timetable, what each buyer sees and the date offers are due. The value then comes from competing offers, laid side by side.
We negotiate every term while there are alternatives. Retention packages, earn-outs tied to renewals, consents in broadcaster and operator contracts, and the regulator’s approval a licensed gaming supplier needs for a new owner, which can take months: each changes what the deal is worth to you, and each moves most while a second buyer is still in the room.
We get the business ready before the first call. That means revenue split into subscription, support, licenses, projects and hardware with the margin of each, your ten largest customers and their own trend, and for gaming suppliers, licenses with revenue by jurisdiction. Buyers pay for what they can verify, so we prepare all of it with you before a single buyer is contacted.
Selling Your Media or Gaming Software Company With Aventis
We run competitive sale processes for owners of software companies, typically with enterprise values between $5M and $100M. We work from New York and Warsaw, and as partners in the Globalscope network. That reach matters here: the most active buyers in this segment are based from Toronto and Montreal to Cupertino and Stockholm, and a sale has to reach all of them at the same time. We prepare the business, approach the platform companies, game engine and creative tool makers, consolidators and private equity platforms most likely to pay for your product and customers, bring their offers to a single deadline and negotiate the terms through to closing. We also advise software acquirers, which is how we know how their offers are put together:
- Sale of CKSource, the company behind CKEditor, to Tiugo Technologies, backed by Providence Strategic Growth, after a global process that drew several letters of intent
- Advice to Visma on its acquisition of SaldeoSMART
- Advice to Symfonia, backed by Accel-KKR and MidEuropa, on its acquisition of Nefeni
“We were impressed with Marcin’s negotiating skills and Aventis’ ability to make things happen.” Sindre Talleraas Holen, M&A Director, Visma
“Aventis Advisors did the heavy lifting so that our management team could stay focused on our business.” Wiktor Walc, CKSource
Before you reply to a buyer
An offer from one buyer is easier to judge with the record beside it. Send us MRR, revenue growth, churn and EBITDA margin, and within two working days we tell you in confidence how the offer compares with what buyers paid for similar companies and which other buyers would compete for yours.
Or write to us at marcin.majewski@aventis-advisors.com. The first conversation is confidential.
Methodology
The figures come from the Aventis Advisors software deal database (Mergermarket, acquirer announcements and own research).
- Acquisitions of 50% or more of privately held companies, or of business units, announced from 2015 to 2025.
- Median deal size uses enterprise value where published, otherwise the deal value.
- In the tables, a median from fewer than ten deals is shown only if it rests on at least two deals and falls inside the middle half of vertical software deals (software made for one industry), and a middle half is shown only from ten deals or more. Otherwise the cell gives the figure for vertical software as a whole.
- Only 3.6% of the deals publish a revenue multiple and 0.7% an EBITDA multiple, so the multiples rest on a small sample.
- Financial buyers are private equity firms and the companies they own at the time of the deal.
- Buyer tables count each group under its current owner.
Game studios, media owners and gambling operators are outside the figures. Advertising technology and website content management are counted with sales, marketing and CX software, and video conferencing with collaboration and productivity software.
