Sega acquires Crytek Black Sea to form Creative Assembly Sofia

Sega Europe and Creative Assembly have acquired Crytek’s former Black Sea studio to create a brand-new facility known as Creative Assembly Sofia, the publisher has announced today.

The 60-strong Bulgaria-based development team will be developing new titles in addition to Creative Assembly’s currently unannounced slate of games for 2017 and will increase Creative Assembly’s overall headcount by 37 per cent, taking the team to over 500 employees.

The news comes after the opening of the studio’s third UK site at the end of 2016, which added an 88 per cent increase to the team’s overall development space, including the opening of a new 45-camera motion-capture studio and dedicated audio suites.

Tim Heaton, studio director at Creative Assembly, said: Now in our 30th year of games development, with an army of multi-million selling titles to our name and a history of world-renowned partnerships, Creative Assembly is proof of the UK games industry’s potential for global success. Due to this success, we are further expanding our UK base and developing additional projects overseas, whilst pursuing top talent from across the globe to join us, all in support of our commitment to creating high quality, authentic gaming experiences.

Our continued growth allows us to be dynamic with our future projects, constantly seeking new opportunities and reaching a wider audience with our games.”

Jurgen Post, president and COO of Sega Europe added: The acquisition of Crytek Black Sea further enhances Sega Europe’s development capabilities and strengthens our ability to output diverse and engaging content for our IP.

"Creative Assembly Sofia will be working exclusively on content for Creative Assembly and will prove an invaluable asset given the multitude of unannounced titles currently in the works. This acquisition represents another step in the right direction for the growth of our global business, underlining our commitment to add value to our existing studios and our continued support for the UK games industry.”