The story
Founded by Paul Thelen in 2002, in Seattle.1
The company was founded in 2002. In 2009, it announced the opening of its European headquarters in Cork, Ireland. In July 2010, the company passed one billion game downloads from its online portal.
In August 2013, Big Fish announced the closing of its cloud-based games service, Vancouver studio and Cork offices. In 2014, the company was acquired by Churchill Downs Inc. in a deal valued at up to $885 million. In 2018, Churchill Downs sold Big Fish to Australian gambling machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure for $990 million. In September 2018, Big Fish cut 15% of its workforce, and in September 2020, it cut nearly 50% of its workforce.
By October 2025, Aristocrat Leisure sold Big Fish Games to a newly formed owner company, BFG Entertainment. Under BFG Entertainment's new leadership, Big Fish Games handed ownership of its mobile games Evermerge and Gummy Drop to publishers JetSynthesys and 7 Hits Games respectively, ended developer Elephant Games' support of free-to-play game Midnight Castle, terminated its contracts with hidden object game developer GrandMA Studios, and plans to open a new internal studio focused on hidden object games. In May 2026, BFG Entertainment was sued by GrandMA Studios for the alleged illegality of the termination of GrandMA's royalties, contracts, and distribution and licensing rights.
From Wikipedia’s article on Big Fish Games, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5