Animoca Brands acquired Australian game developer for $25.9m

Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based blockchain gaming firm, has acquired Australian indie game developer Blowfish Studios for a total of A$35 million (around US$25.9 million) in a cash-and-shares deal that includes several conditions.

Animoca Brands will make an upfront payment of A$9 million (US$6.7 million): A$4 million (US$3 million) will be paid in cash while the rest with the company’s shares. If Blowfish Studio founders Benjamin Lee and Aaron Grove continue to work for two years after the acquisition, they will get additional A$1 million (US$740,000) in cash and A$5 million (US$3.7 million) in shares.

Another A$20 million (US$14.8 million) may be disbursed if Blowfish Studios meets certain profitability targets by 2022 and 2023.

Siegecraft Commander, one of Blowfish Studios’ games / Image credit: Blowfish Studios

Founded in 2010, Blowfish Studios publishes games for PC, mobile devices, and various consoles such as PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It currently has 33 games in its portfolio, including Qbism, Siegecraft, Morphite, Projection: First Light, and Storm Boy.

Yat Siu, Animoca Brands’ co-founder and chairman, says that the combination of capabilities in AAA gaming and blockchain, like what his company and Blowfish Studios can have, is rare. Both startups have worked on a number of projects that will be announced soon, he added.

After the acquisition, Blowfish Studios’ current managment will continue to run the company and work with Animoca Brands to align efforts related to blockchain integration, play-to-earn capabilities, product launches as well as fungible and non-fungible tokens.

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Prior to this deal, Animoca Brands became a unicorn after raising US$88.8 million in its latest funding round. Besides creating original games such as The Sandbox, the Hong Kong-based firm has also invested and partnered with several blockchain-gaming companies, such as Axie Infinity creator Sky Mavis and CryptoKitties creator Dapper Labs.

Currency converted from Australian dollar. Rate US$1 = A$1.35