Study finds closures hit a third of acquired studios
An examination of more than 300 game developers found roughly 61% experienced weaker sales, lower review scores or closure after being bought.
A study by game industry veteran Sebastian Cardoso found that a third of studios acquired since 2000 have closed, with half of those shutdowns occurring within five years of their purchase.
Cardoso examined more than 300 developers bought by large companies. Roughly 61% subsequently recorded lower game sales, received weaker review scores or shut down. His dataset recorded just one acquired studio closing between 2019 and 2022, but 33 closures from 2023 through October.
The outcomes varied substantially by buyer. Cardoso found that Activision Blizzard had closed or substantially reduced every studio it acquired. By contrast, Nintendo, Sumo Group, Krafton and Kadokawa had each purchased a handful of developers since 2000 without closing any.
According to Cardoso's findings, buyers with better records typically worked with developers before acquiring them and retained their original leadership. Publishers with poorer outcomes tended to purchase studios to support existing intellectual properties.
None of the 18 studios that bought themselves back experienced decline or closure in the study. Cardoso cautioned, however, that those developers were probably already financially healthy enough to pay for their independence.
