EA acquires Respawn Entertainment, studio responsible for 'Titanfall'
Weeks after EA Games decided to shut down Visceral Games, the mega video game company decided to acquire Respawn Entertainment, after outbidding South Korean game publisher Nexon. Visceral Games is the studio behind the current "Star Wars" game in development and other popular video games such as "Dead Space" and "Battlefield Hardline."
"We've seen firsthand the world-class caliber of Respawn as a development studio with incredible vision, deep talent and an inspiring creative mindset," said EA CEO Andrew Wilson in a press release.
"Our longtime partnership is grounded in a shared desire to push the boundaries and deliver extraordinary and innovative new experiences for players around the world. Together, we've brought this to life in the Titanfall franchise, and now with the Respawn team joining EA, we have exciting plans to accomplish even more amazing things in the future," Wilson added.
The deal is said to be worth $455 million, with $151 million to be paid in cash, and over $164 million in long-term equity over the next four years. Respawn is also entitled to "certain performance milestones" bonuses until 2022, depending on the performance of its upcoming title developments and game releases.
Respawn was responsible for the release of hit 2014 Xbox One exclusive "Titanfall," a multiplayer first-person shooter video game. Its sequel, "Titanfall 2," was launched late 2016, and was released on other gaming platforms as well aside from Xbox One.
The gaming studio is currently working on big titles, such as a video game set in the Star Wars universe, a third sequel to "Titanfall" series, a new addition to the "Battlefront" series, and a new virtual reality game for Oculus. No specific details about the aforementioned titles are available as of the moment.
According to Kotaku, rumors about the acquisition have been spreading around the Respawn staff for a few weeks before the deal was finalized. The studio finally announced the deal in a meeting on Monday. It is also noted by Respawn CEO Vince Zampella that even though Respawn is now officially part of EA, he will still remain in charge and no changing of staff would take place.
"With Titanfall and Star Wars, EA has been a great development partner that supports us and doesn't interfere with our process for making games or studio culture," said Zampella in a letter on Respawn's website.
"EA will provide us with more resources, access to new technologies, and expertise that we can tap into to that will help us make better games, and Respawn will retain the same creative freedom and culture we've always had," he added.
The deal is said to be finalized before the year ends.
