Developers from Finland to Bolster International Gaming Powerhouse

Guess who’s investing in digital game development? Aristocrat. A company with 60 years of experience in developing land-based and online machines, licensed by around 300 gaming jurisdictions and operating in more than 90 countries.

Yes, it seems that the developer has finally decided to be in line with its growth strategy by putting more money in the social casino segment, where it enjoys a market-leading position on a global level.

New Studios to Deepen the Footprint

There are three new studios in total to join Aristocrat Digital, deepening the supplier’s access to game development talent. By doing so, the company intends to boost its aggregation capabilities in various mobile game talent hubs across Northern and Eastern Europe, but also to grab a larger share of developing iGaming sectors.

Firstly, the international distributor of premium casino content has announced the acquisition of a Helsinki-based free-to-play mobile gaming studio Futureplay. As the report reads, it specializes in the growing merge/match 3 segment of the casual market. Established in 2015, this small developer has released only six games to date, but they have already been played by over 140 million usersaround the world!

Among the most popular titles are Merge Gardens, Idle Farming Empire and Battlelands Royale.

Secondly, Aristocrat has also purchased a further Helsinki-based studio, called Northern Stars. This group of gaming engineers mostly focuses on the emerging hybrid casual genre, where two world-class game development and studio leaders, Minwoo Lee and Antti Nikander will help Aristocrat to grow presence in Finland.

Thirdly, the company has acquired Playsoft from Gdańsk (Poland) which is a mobile gaming studio specializing in the social casino genre. With 13+ years of experience in the industry and more than 50 successful game titles, the manufacturer will operate within the Product Madness business, led by impressive founders Nicolas Bensignor and Pierre Olivier Monteil.

“These deals are consistent with Aristocrat’s successful strategy of bringing more world-class game development talent and capability into the organization to expand our game pipeline and sustain our strong growth momentum in Digital,” said CEO of Aristocrat Digital, Michael Lang, about the acquisition of all three studios.

Uniting Creativity, Innovation and Ambition

On a similar note, the chief executive added that the company is thrilled to welcome rising starts Futureplay, Northern Stars and Playsoft to the Aristocrat Digital family.

Each one of these studios has an impressive track record in game development, creativity and innovation, which is important for the company’s ambitious strategy.

Their acquisition will not only help with global scale, marketing and investment capabilities, but assist new partners reach greater heights on the market.

Lang also said that the group will continue to be active in pursuing global talent and studio deals to accelerate growth strategy. Driving organic growth and reaching strong market results is still the company’s main goal, concluded the CEO.

Source:

“Aristocrat Continues to Invest in Expanding Digital Game Pipeline and Portfolio Diversification for Growth”, aristocrat.com, August 20^th, 2021.