November has been a big month for gaming companies in Vancouver.
First A Thinking Ape and IUGO Mobile were acquired by Embracer Group’s DECA Games and now Vancouver’s Piranha Games has been acquired by Enad Global 7 (EG7).
EG7 has agreed to acquire Piranha for $31.4 million paid two-thirds in cash and one-third in newly issued EG7 shares. If certain profitability performance targets are hit by the end of 2025, EG7 has agreed to pay out an additional $63.4 million split equally between cash and shares.
Established in 2000 as a work-for-hire studio, Piranha Games is one of Canada’s oldest independent game developers and has experience of developing AAA titles including Medal of Honor, Transformers and Need for Speed.
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Through the acquisition, EG7 takes on a team of 65 people in the Piranha’s Vancouver studio.
For the past ten years, Piranha Games has focused on developing games within the MechWarrior franchise. The first title the company launched was MechWarrior Online which has generated over $75 million in revenue with its tens of thousands of daily players and F2P (free-to-play) business model.
The latest title to be launched was MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries which was awarded 81/100 points by IGN and 85/100 by GamingTrend, two game reviewing websites. The title was launched in 2019 and has sold hundreds of thousands of copies on the Epic Games Store alone. In 2021, the title will be launched on other platforms such as Steam and GOG.
Within the EG7 Group, Piranha Games will operate as an independent studio and be reported as a separate entity.