Epic Games has invested in Brazilian game development studio Aquiris, best known for games like Horizon Chase Turbo and Wonderbox: The Adventure Maker. The investment deal includes a multi-game publishing agreement by Epic Games for “future unannounced multiplatform games,” not just Epic Games Store exclusivity.
Revealed in an official blog post, Aquiris is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, so the investment (the actual amount is undisclosed) by Epic Games will certainly go down nicely as a birthday gift. The investment should mean that Aquiris has more budget to work with when developing new games under the watchful publishing eye of Epic Games.
Epic Games’ head of third-party publishing, Hector Sanchez, is joining the Aquiris board of directors as part of the investment. Sanchez praises Aquiris for its “great artistic and technical capabilities” using the “Unreal Engine in [its products].” Epic Games is looking to work with Aquiris to “strengthen [its] relationship with one of the premiere studios in the growing and important Latin American development scene.” The investment by Epic Games into Aquiris follows Sony and KIRKBI investing $2 billion in the studio behind the Unreal Engine as well as a partnership with Lego.
No word has been given on what we can expect to see from Aquiris following the investment and publishing agreement, but the studio’s CEO Mauricio Longoni expects the deal to “boost the quality and reach of [Aquiris’] titles.” Horizon Chase Turbo is an excellent retro throwback racing game, so, hopefully, the investment means Aquiris can follow it up with something just as memorable.
