Aristocrat to expand digital division and portfolio with three studio deals

Aristocrat Leisure Limited has entered into a series of deals to further expand its digital game development capability, in line with its growth strategy, announced the company August 20.

The company expects that the three new agreements will strengthen its digital game pipeline and further improve portfolio diversification.

The investments are “strongly aligned” to targeted genres, particularly the highgrowth casual and merge segments, where the company already has a presence, describes Aristocrat in a press release. Furthermore, it is expected to also align with the social casino segment.

Due to the deals secured, three new studios will join Aristocrat Digital, “deepening the business’ access to game development talent and studio capabilities in top-tier” mobile game talent hubs both in Northern and Eastern Europe.

One of these agreements involve the acquisition of Helsinki-based free-to-play mobile gaming studio Futureplay, specialized in the growing “merge/match 3 segment of the casual market.” The studio has so far released six games since its foundation in 2015, totaling more than 140 million users around the world.

Futureplay will operate as a studio reporting within Aristocrat’s Plarium business. The acquisition is expected to bring together Plarium’s game development infrastructure and marketing expertise with Futureplay’s casual mobile capabilities, thus enabling Parium “to expand and diversify their portfolio.”

A second announcement involves establishing a new Helsinki-based studio called Northern Stars, which will focus “on the emerging hybrid casual genre” under studio leaders Minwoo Lee and Antti Nikander.

“Minwoo and Antti bring a wealth of experience to the group, which will help us grow Aristocrat’s presence in Finland and further expand our game development capabilities,” said the company.

Lastly, Aristocrat has announced the acquisition of Playsoft, a Poland-based mobile gaming studio specializing in the social casino genre with 13+ year experience developing game titles for third party partners.

Playsoft will operate within the Product Madness business and the company expects this will establish “a strong footprint for the company in another strategic European location.”

On the importance of the deals, Aristocrat Digital’s CEO, Michael Lang, said: “Coupled with Aristocrat Digital’s ambitious strategy, global scale, marketing and investment capabilities, we look forward to helping our new colleagues reach new heights.”

Furthermore, Lang remarked that the deals are consistent with Aristocrat’s strategy to expand its game pipeline and sustain its strong growth momentum in Digital.

“We will continue to be active in pursuing global talent and studio deals that accelerate our growth strategy, alongside our sustained proven focus in driving organic growth”, added the CEO.