Irish-headquartered video gaming group Keywords Studios has expanded into Japan with the acquisition of games development company Wizcorp for 120 million yen (€953,000).
The Tokyo-based company develops games, specifically focusing on the mobile sector, and has worked with publishers such as LINE, Square Enix, Avex, Yahoo Japan, and Bandai Namco. Established in 2008, Wizcorp employs 35 people, and has annual revenues of 310 million yen (€2.47m).
The purchase marks the second acquisition Keywords has made from Ankama. The first was in March 2016, when Keywords bought the company's player support operation in Manila, the Philippines . At the time it employed 23 people; it now has more than 700 employees.
Keywords is expecting the Wizcorp purchase to be as successful, providing a platform for expansion in the region's games development market for Keywords. The company expects the Wizcorp business to achieve margins at similar levels to Keywords' existing engineering service line when it is integrated with the company's existing operations. Keywords already employs 300 people in Tokyo.
"Japan is one of the world's most significant game development hubs, and has a long history in this industry. Keywords is excited at the opportunities Wizcorp will bring the group and its clients in the Japanese market as it becomes the latest member of our global engineering service line," said Christopher Kennedy, regional managing director for Keywords Studios in Asia.
“Wizcorp’s HTML5 expertise is a valuable extension to our console, mobile and PC games development skills, which is particularly interesting in the context of Snap’s recent launch of its HTML5-based gaming platform.”
