Climax Studios acquired by Keywords Studios to ‘strengthen game development’

Portsmouth-based Climax Studios, one of the UK’s longest-running game development studios, has been acquired by Keyword Studios, one of the industry’s key service providers.

Keywords acquisitions have become a regular feature of our news coverage for many year, initially the company centred on acquiring service provider such art houses, QA, audio and even PR firms.

However, it has also now taken on a significant number of end-to-end game development providers, with Climax Studios joining the likes of d3t, Studio Gobo, Electric Square and Wizcorp, among others.

Even then Climax Studios, which has been running for 33 years, is a major investment with 109 staff led by CEO Simon Gardner. The studio has worked on titles such as Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, Crackdown 3 and Returnal, out next week on PS5.

Jon Hauck, Joint Interim CEO of Keywords Studios, commented: “We are delighted that Simon and the highly talented Climax team are joining the Keywords family. Climax brings a wealth of expertise, adds significant scale to our rapidly growing Game Development Service Line and provides access to a new pool of talent from its base in Portsmouth.

“The studio’s excellent track record of high quality delivery spans more than 30 years, with its services in high demand from some of the largest names in the industry. We are very excited about the experience and opportunities that Climax will bring to Keywords, and our clients, and we look forward to enabling their continued growth as part of the Group.” A group that now numbers 65 facilities across 22 countries.

Simon Gardner, Climax CEO, added: “We are very excited about joining Keywords and the opportunities that being part of an industry leading global business will open up to our clients and our team.

“Keywords Studios shares our growth ambitions and their investment will support the delivery of a wider range of top quality services and products to our clients. We are looking forward to working closely with everyone at Keywords and to start playing our part in the impressive journey of the wider business.”

Source：Seth Barton/MCV