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Ubisoft Acquires Brawlhalla Developer
Brawlhalla is a free-to-play Smash Brothers-like that's been getting a fair amount of buzz, with over five million players checking the game out on Steam. The popularity of the game hasn't gone unnoticed by the publishing world.
Today developer Blue Mammoth Games announced that it had been acquired by Ubisoft:
Long story short, Blue Mammoth Games is joining Ubisoft!
You heard right. Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, Rayman – that Ubisoft! The list of ways this is good for Brawlhalla is so long, I literally don’t know where to start. We have some power in our corner now; we’re now backed by a big ten publisher known for many of the best and most creative games out there.
So, what does this mean for Brawlhalla? Only good things. Blue Mammoth will continue to run the game just as we always have. The studio will grow (slowly, we don’t want to mess up the good thing we have here by growing too fast.) We will have more stability and more resources to improve the game and add new features (including some long overdue). We will get opportunities to raise Brawlhalla’s profile among gamers. And we’ll be able to confidently share a roadmap with you for the next years of Brawlhalla development.
Ubisoft also released a statement about the acquisition, saying "With Brawlhalla, we're getting a hugely popular and highly-profitable title that aligns with our strategy of expanding our audience and providing players with long-lasting, entertaining gaming experiences." You can read the full release here.
This will mark the first time Ubisoft has acquired an American studio since its purchase of Red Storm Entertainment in 2000.
Our Take
The acquisition makes sense from a couple of vantages. The popularity of the game is reason enough, but Ubisoft also lacks a traditional brawler fighting game, so this is a way for the company to fill a niche.
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