13 Major Video Game Companies That Got Bought In 2021

Image: Mediatonic / Housemarque / Turtle Rock / Silver photograph by Ozan Kose (Getty Images)

The video game industry shopped in 2021. Throughout the year, a handful of large companies systematically bought a shipment of smaller ones, at a rate where it seemed like a new acquisition was announced every. a few weeks.

Of course, everything took place in the shadow of the big one: in March, accredited regulatory bodies The purchase of Zenimax (parent company of Bethesda) for 7.5 billion dollars by Microsoft, formalizing a consolidation of the game development superpowers under the The organizational chart of Xbox studios is constantly swelling. But 2021 was also peppered with a bunch of ten-digit acquisitions, some of which made headlines. Here are the most significant.

Netflix buys Night School Studio

Well, it didn’t take long. In May, disseminated reports that Netflix was looking to recruit an executive specifically tasked with advancing the streaming giant’s foray into video games, which began with experiences like Black mirror: Bandersnatch. Two months later, Netflix hired Mike Verdu (formerly from EA and Oculus). And then, in September, he bought Night School Studio, an independent outfit best known for Without beef. The duo makes sense: Night School makes atmospheric choice-driven games, and Netflix has played in the past with pick-your-own stuff, billed as a premium TV show. Over the past few years, Netflix has produced successful adaptations of Dota, Castlevania, and League of Legends. And then there’s the Oxenfree TV show (initially conceptualized as a movie), revealed in january. A network has yet to be announced for the series, but come on.

Read more: Netflix’s video game service says it all

The developer said production on Oxenfree II, which would be its first game released under the new arrangement, is unaffected by the acquisition and is still on track for release next year. It wouldn’t be Netflix’s first game, however. In November, Netflix has added five video games to its streaming offerings, including two previously released (and lukewarmly received) adaptations of Stranger Things.

Screenshot: Media

Epic acquires Mediatonic

In March, Epic Games bought Mediatonic, the studio behind the glowing royal platformer of 2020, Fall Guys. At the time, Mediatonic was planning to release Fall Guys on Xbox and Switch. It has since been pushed back to 2022, with the game still only available on PlayStation and PC. Additionally, to this day, Fall Guys still hasn’t landed in the metaverse of its new overlord, Fortnite, however. data miners claim such a crossover is imminent.

The Mediatonic acquisition is just the latest example of Epic’s intention to dominate the board game metaverse. In 2019, he bought Psyonix, the developer of Rocket League, the motorsport-football game about listening to extremely eye-catching EDM earworms. A year and a billion crossover events later, Epic removed Rocket League from availability on Steam. For now, Fall Guys is still available on the front of Valve.

Epic acquires Harmonix

Mediatonic wasn’t Epic’s only major acquisition in 2021. Last month, Epic took over Harmonix, the creators of Rock Band, to design “musical journeys and gameplay” for Fortnite. During the pandemic, various popular musicians have hosted digital-only concerts in Fortnite for big stars like Ariana Grande; It’s not immediately clear whether Harmonix would work on experiments like these or design more stuff like the rhythm games the studio has made a name for itself. Either way, Harmonix says it will keep its catalog on Steam, although Epic operates its own competing PC storefront.

Nintendo buys Next Level

It’s not that often that Nintendo buys direct from game development studios, but the company started the year in officially acquires Next Level Games, the creators of Luigi’s Mansion 3 based in Vancouver. The studio previously developed 3DS games Metroid Prime: Federation Force and Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, both of which have received high praise from Kotaku’s critics.

Screenshot: Housemarque / Kotaku

Sony acquires Housemarque

Honestly, if you had asked me anytime earlier this year, I would have guessed that Housemarque was a Sony studio owner. Since 2012, only one game from the Finnish studio (Nex Machina) has been released on a platform other than PlayStation (PC). But it wasn’t until June, after the acclaimed April release of Return on PlayStation 5, that Sony officially called on Housemarque as a studio owner.

Sony acquires Bluepoint Games

Everyone saw this one coming, since the news was accidentally revealed in a tweet three months ago, but in September, Sony bought Bluepoint Games. Best known for producing luxurious remakes of popular games like Demon souls and Shadow of the colossus, Bluepoint is currently working on original games, studio director Marco Thrush tell IGN.

Damn, Sony buy everybody

In July, Sony has bought Nixxes, a studio known for working on popular gaming PC ports. (In recent years, Sony has started releasing its biggest games on PC.) This was followed, in September, by the purchase of Run Sackboy! To run! Fireesprite developer. Just this month, Sony has acquired Valkyrie Entertainment, a Seattle-based team that has primarily functioned as a support studio for AAA games, including the upcoming God of War Ragnarok. And on top of all that, all the way back in March, Sony bought Evo, the fighting games tournament, in partnership with Endeavor. No, not technically a development studio, but still an acquisition linked to the “shit” game.

Tencent acquires Turtle Rock

Tencent continued its push into the game with the Turtle Rock Studios December Purchase, fresh out of the Back 4 Blood, the developer’s animated multiplayer zombie shooter. Turtle Rock marked the sixth major purchase for the multinational conglomerate, following majority investments in Klei Entertainment (known for Don’t Starve), Yager (Spec Ops: The Line), and Stunlock (Battlerite). In 2021, Tencent also purchased Sumo group and big shark, an independent Swedish studio.

Screenshot: Gearbox

Embracer buys a gearbox

In February, Embracer Group, the mega-company that owns THQ Nordic and Koch Media,bought a gearbox, the developer of Borderlands and the publisher of games like Godfall and Tribes of Midgard. Longtime Borderlands publisher 2K says the merger won’t impact future games in the eternally crass series of co-op shooters. A fantastically inspired spin-off, Little Tina’s Wonderland, is slated for release in March next year.

Embracer acquires Aspyr

The same day Embracer bought Gearbox, he also picked up Aspyr, a company known for porting games to various devices. Aspyr is currently working on a suitable remake of the 2004 RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, intended for release on PC and PS5.

Take-Two buys Roll7

Take-Two Interactive is best known for posting megawatt hits in the Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and NBA 2K franchises, in addition to the relatively smaller but still successful Borderlands and BioShock series games. But the New York-based company is branching out into lighter fare with its Private Division label. In November, Take-Two bought Roll7 (the developers of the skate games OlliOlli) and placed it under the responsibility of Private Division. OlliOlli World is slated for release in February.