Embracer Group, THQ Nordic parent company, has announced it has acquired Arizona Sunshine developer Vertigo Games. This is the first team solely focusing on virtual reality titles to be acquired by the media conglomerate.
Vertigo Games, purchased for €50 million, will retain its senior management and operate independently under the Koch Media umbrella.
The label has six projects currently in the works and two studios in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Los Angeles (United States), including video games and location-based VR experiences.
“Since we decided to focus exclusively on virtual reality gaming in 2013, we have experienced rapid growth with the release of global hit Arizona Sunshine, and we have our most ambitious project to date, After the Fall,” said Vertigo Games CEO Richard Stitselaar in a press release.
“The virtual reality gaming market seems to be on the edge of really taking off with the coming together of better, more accessible hardware and more and more high-quality content being released and announced. We believe that now is the time to accelerate and in Koch Media and Embracer we have found the perfect partner to do so together with.”
Koch Media CEO Dr. Klemens Kundratitz added that “we have been monitoring the virtual reality market over the past years very closely. We feel that now is the right time to extend our groups activities into this fast-growing market. I am sure that we are only at the beginning of the technological development of virtual reality and what it offers players around the globe.”
“We are delighted that with the acquisition of Vertigo Games, leading virtual reality experts are joining our group. Together, we will push the boundaries of virtual reality gaming even further, combining our strong global development and publishing network with their specialized virtual reality games expertise.”
This is just the latest new entry in the Embracer Group. The label has acquired multiple development teams over the last few years, and some of the names involved in the process are beloved ones.
Metro dev 4A Games was just purchased, but previous acquisitions include Little Nightmares studio Tarsier, racing game maestros Milestone, and Kingdom Come Deliverance’s Warhorse Studios.
