Games Global Takes Control of Wishbone Games in 2025

Key Points

• Companies House has had to update its records to show Games Global UK Limited taking control of Wishbone Games from October 2025, even though the paperwork wasn’t filed until 8th October 2026.
• The two co-founders of Wishbone left the control register back in May 2023, over 2 years before Games Global showed up on it.
• No one knows how much Games Global paid for their stake, or exactly what percentage they now own, and that’s the part that is sparking most debate right now.

A Year When Nobody Seemed to Be in Charge of Wishbone

For a whole year after Games Global took over Wishbone, the public register still said that nobody had any control of the studio. Then on 8th October 2026, the register was updated to show that Games Global had been in charge since 1st October 2025, which raises a question, why did it take so long for the paperwork to appear?

NEXT.io uncovered on 28th October that the deal was done last year, but the news only came out this month. The filings at Companies House back that up, the change was filed on 8th October 2026 and names Games Global UK Limited as the person with significant control from 1st October 2025. Another entry was filed the same day then took out the previous statement saying that Wishbone had no registrable person in charge. Trade reports reckon Games Global must have a stake of more than 50% but less than 75%

Why Are The Two Dates Important?

UK rules state that a company has 14 days to update its own register of people in charge, and another 14 days to let Companies House know about it. But the clock only starts ticking once the company confirms the details, not when it actually happens. So the delay itself can’t necessarily mean they’re doing anything wrong. And even if it looks like they are playing with the system, the public record can’t tell us when they actually confirmed the details.

Companies House also makes it clear that they don’t check if the information is correct, they can only go off what the company tells them. So we need to be careful about what we assume happened here.

The Co-Founders Had Been Gone for a Year

Some people have suggested that Games Global replaced Wishbone’s founders on the control register, but the truth is more complicated than that. Both co-founders were listed as holding between 25% and 50% of the shares each, and they both stopped being on the control register on 30th May 2023

After that date, the register just said that no one had any control over Wishbone. And then Games Global came on and started having control 28 months later, but we don’t even know if the original founders sold their shares or when they might have done it.

The Way That Wishbone Became Part of the Games Global Family

This particular business relationship started in June 2022 when RNG Foundry announced that Velo Partners had invested in the Cardiff studio. In parallel with that, Wishbone entered into an exclusive development and distribution agreement with Games Global getting access to more than 900 brands.

The reason for entering the arrangement according to Miska was one sentence: “Having our content exclusively distributed by Games Global via their distribution channel will allow us to grow quickly and get great access for our games so they could be enjoyed both by operators and players.” The investment went first, the control – much later.

As for earlier agreements by Games Global, the process was more transparent with announcements, launch statements and executives available for comments. The company launched on 3 May 2022 following the purchase of Microgaming’s distribution business and games portfolio. Besides, Games Global confirmed the purchase of the B2B business of Digital Gaming Corporation from Super Group on 7 February 2024.

A Playbook Outlined in the Prospectus

Games Global described its strategy in the prospectus submitted to the US regulators in April 2024. The company claimed that it grows “by building relationships with new third-party studios which we may subsequently seek to acquire.” The path of Wishbone from 2022 investment to Games Global control in 2025 fits the strategy described.

According to the report of 31 December 2023, the group had 40 studios. Of those 24 were in-house studios, and 16 were partner studios under exclusive rights. The same prospectus gives information about earlier acquisitions such as Games Global UK Limited’s purchase of a 51% share of AreaVegas Holdings in September 2023 for $5.0 million in cash and an earnout.

According to the same prospectus, the company paid €80.8 million for MahiGaming in August 2022. In February 2023, Games Global bought the majority interest in the four Velo Studios companies for €81.2 million.

The planned IPO didn’t materialise. On 13 May 2024, Games Global filed a request to withdraw the filing due to current market conditions.

What the Public Record Still Cannot Say?

Neither the filing nor the coverage mentioned any price for the Wishbone deal. The precise stake also cannot be stated because the register only provides an estimate. According to Gambling.com, the publication could not find the company’s press release regarding the transaction.

NEXT.io mentioned it had tried to get a comment from the company, yet its article did not contain any reply. In addition, the examined coverage does not confirm NEXT.io’s estimate of at least ten acquisitions made by the company during the last five years.

Expert Opinion: A Majority Stake, Obtained via Paperwork

In our opinion, the use of the term “acquisition” obscures the actual essence of the case. During the twelve months, the register did not have any information about the holder of registrable control of Wishbone. Now, the same register indicates that Games Global UK Limited has controlled the studio throughout the whole period.

The readers can disagree with us and will regard the case as a mere administrative action. Indeed, it can be considered that way since the fourteen-day deadline starts when the company verifies the information; thus, we cannot know the exact date. Nonetheless, our reasoning is narrower: as a supplier to regulated operators, one should expect that the studio ownership would be promptly registered by the company.

Let us consider the DGC purchase in February 2024. The company announced the transaction with a message from the CEO about “immediate entry into the fast-growing U.S. market”. Unlike it, the change of control of Wishbone occurred via the register filing and no statement was released by the company in any of the examined coverage. As a matter of fact, the IPO paperwork revealed the public price of AreaVegas, while Wishbone’s price still remains undisclosed.

We are not saying that the withdrawn listing caused the lack of attention towards Wishbone’s change of control. However, it is impossible not to notice the contrast. What should be asked is whether such a large supplier allows the public register to announce the deal first. Our answer is negative, although the readers may have a different opinion.