Aristocrat Acquires Playsoft and Futureplay as it Expands European Footprint

Last Friday, Aristocrat Leisure Limited announced three different arrangements in a bid to pursue its growth strategy via its Digital game development division. Three brand new studios are now part of the rapidly growing Aristocrat Digital, a ground-breaking provider of social free-to-play casino games, strategy, mid-core, role play, and online casino games with mobile-focused designs.

Aristocrat Digital boats of a workforce of about 2,300 staffers globally and operation bases in 14 different locations worldwide. The digital arm of Aristocrat Leisure Ltd is a three-pronged trident comprised of operations in Israel, the UK, and the United States. The trinity of businesses are referred to as Plarium Global, Product Madness, and Big Fish Games, respectively. With the latest expansion maneuver, Aristocrat, through its digital division, is looking to source more top-tier game development talent across Northern and Eastern Europe.

Helsinki:  Acquisition of Mobile Gaming Brand Futureplay & Opening New Studio

In Finland’s capital, Aristocrat has moved to acquire Futureplay, a free-to-play mobile gaming studio specializing in the burgeoning merge/match 3 sector of the casual gaming market. Futureplay has released six cutting-edge titles since its inception in 2015, with a user base of more than 140 million players from different parts of the world.

The six games that Futureplay has developed to date are Merge Gardens, Battlelands Royale, Idle Farming Empire, Idle City Empire, Idle Crafting Empire, and Idle Tuber Empire. Following the acquisition, Futureplay will be led by Jami Laes, under the Israeli Plarium Global business.

Further, in Finland’s largest city, Aristocrat has launched Northern Stars, a new development studio. Northern Stars aims to tap into the rich Helsinki-based talent to cement its presence in the Finnish state. Here, the gaming company is focused on opportunities in the up-and-coming hybrid casual genre market and will be steered by globally renowned game development figures. They include Minwoo Lee, who has previously worked for EA, Rovio, and Ubisoft, and Antti Nikander, another ex-Rovio employee.

Gdańsk: Acquisition of Social Casino Studio Playsoft

In Gdańsk, one of Poland’s oldest cities, Aristocrat has bought out Playsoft, a distinguished mobile gaming studio that specializes in the social casino genre. Since it was founded in 2004 by Pierre Olivier Monteil and Nicolas Bensignor, two gaming enthusiasts, it has developed over 50 successful games for its third-party clientele and partners, including Nickelodeon and Ubisoft, and EA.  

Moreover, Playsoft has also published a range of proprietary games such as Tour de France and Blade Lords. Under the leadership of its founders, Playsoft will now fall within the umbrella of the UK-based Product Madness Division to accelerate the production of new titles and boost innovation. Following the two acquisitions and launch of the new Helsinki studio, Michael Lang, the Chief Executive Officer of Aristocrat Digital, said:

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“These deals are consistent with Aristocrat’s successful strategy of bringing more world-class game development talent and capability into the organisation to expand our game pipeline and sustain our strong growth momentum in Digital. We are thrilled to welcome Futureplay, Northern Stars, and Playsoft to the Aristocrat Digital family, given their impressive track records in game development, creativity, and innovation.”

In his statement, the Aristocrat Digital CEO also disclosed the company’s plan to keep hunting for new talent across the world and team up or acquire more game development studios. He added:

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“Coupled with Aristocrat Digital’s ambitious strategy, global scale, marketing, and investment capabilities, we look forward to helping our new colleagues reach new heights as part of Aristocrat. We will continue to be active in pursuing global talent and studio deals that accelerate our growth strategy, alongside our sustained proven focus in driving organic growth and above market results.”