Avalanche Studios is a Swedish game development studio best known for its chaotic Just Cause franchise, and more recently, its Max Max game. The developer is also working with Bethesda Softworks for the upcoming Rage 2. Now, it has been announced that the oldest continuously active film studio, Nordisk Film, has fully acquired the Just Cause developer by paying €89 million ($103 million) on top of the minority stake it acquired in April 2017, making this €117 million ($136 million) acquisition its largest one yet.
Nordisk stated that it has been extremely impressed with Avalanche"s work over the past 15 years, which has established itself with strong IPs and its proprietary Apex game development technology.
Under this acquisition, Nordisk will be taking control of all 320 Avalanche employees as well as its three studios. However, it has clarified that the game development studio"s strategy will remain unchanged, with the executive team remaining intact too.
Christofer Sundberg, Chief Creative Officer and co-founder of Avalanche Studios, had the following to say regarding the acquisition:
This is a milestone in our 15 year long history. We started from nothing and have built this incredible company, thanks to a team of exceptionally talented people. With Nordisk Film as the owner of the studio, we will expand our creative horizons. I look forward to continuing our long and successful relationships with the best publishers in our industry, as well as creating new games under our own Avalanche Studios publishing label.
Nordisk film says that by adding Avalanche Studios to its growing portfolio of Nordic developers, it aims to strengthen its position in the global gaming market. The acquisition will be finalized by the end of June 2018.