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Bigben Group has revealed it is acquiring French studio, Spiders. Expecting the deal to complete in September 2019, Bigben confirmed “this new strategic operation allows Bigben to assert its position as a developer-publisher while strengthening its expertise in content production for successful genres still missing in its portfolio” which – in this case – is Spiders’ expertise in action and role-playing games.
It is the company’s fourth acquisition in 18 months, the others being Cyanide, Kylotonn Racing, and Eko Software studio which, with Bigben’s other studios, collectively employs 300 developers, plus another 40 staff in its publishing division. Jehanne Rousseau, current CEO and co-founder of Spiders, will continue to lead the studio.
The Paris-based outfit currently employs around 30 people and uses its own development engine, Silk. Bigben said the acquisition allows Bigben “to acquire a remarkable know-how, accumulated over many productions by confirmed developers recognised for the high quality of their games”. Conversely, the studio will be able to benefit from “Bigben’s Gaming business unit” which will give Spiders “the commercial and marketing strength of an established publisher to increase the distribution of its games and benefit from the emulation generated by belonging to a group of talented studios”.
Bigben Group further added that this “external growth fits perfectly into the BIGBEN 2022 plan, which aims at making Bigben one of the reference leaders in ‘AA’ video games”.
“This acquisition fits perfectly with Bigben’s strategy to increase its know-how in the development of video games in the AA strategic segment,” said Alain Falc, chairperson and CEO of Bigben. “We are delighted to welcome the talents of Spiders who will strengthen our Development unit and participate in new and even more ambitious projects.”
“We look forward to joining the Bigben Group, a reference player in the video games industry whose strategic vision we fully share. Becoming part of the Bigben Group is a unique opportunity to accelerate our development alongside other quality studios, by integrating an environment conducive to the creation of ever more qualitative games,” added Jehanne Rousseau, CEO and co-founder of Spiders.
