Keywords Studios acquires game testing firm Babel Media

Game testing and localisation company Keywords Studios has acquired outsourcing services provider Babel Media.

As part of the acquisition, Keywords has said it will settle current financial obligations of Babel and pay sellers to a total of £5.3m.

Around £2.2m of the acquisition will be funded by the issue of 1.5m new shares in Keywords, which floated on the London AIM (alternative stock exchange) last year.

"The acquisition of Babel brings together two of the leading video games testing and localisation providers, firmly establishing Keywords as the market leader in its field, with operations across Dublin, Rome, Montreal, Seattle, Tokyo and now in New Delhi,"; said Keywords chief executive Andrew Day.

“The acquisition will not only generate considerable cost synergies but it will provide greater scale and breadth of services for our combined interactive media client base globally. Adding India to our global locations, with its significant cost advantages, is another important step in both enhancing Group margins and enabling our clients and prospects to benefit from a range of services differentiated by cost, flexibility, time zone, scalability and languages offered.

“We look forward to welcoming Babel’s highly talented employees to the fast growing Keywords group and to continuing to build upon its strong brand with Keywords’ approach to focusing on the efficient delivery of high quality services to our clients."