Epic Games has announced that they have acquired Aquiris (try saying it ten times faster), the developer behind the retro-style racing franchise. horizon chase. According to Epic, Aquiris will serve as the foundation for the newly created Epic Games Brasil, which represents the gaming titan’s first Brazilian company.
In their official websiteEpic says its acquisition of Aquiris builds on an initial investment the studio made in the Brazilian developer last year. Epic Games Brasil will be both Epic’s first studio in Brazil and the first in all of Latin America, and the new studio will call the city of Porto Alegre its home.
Within the new Epic Games Brazil, Aquiris “will create innovative content and social experiences within Fortnite“, according to Epic. The CEO of the studio, Mauricio Longoni, says that his team will also “continue to operate” franchises such as horizon chase and box of wondersalthough it is not clear if more games will continue to be developed in those franchises or if Epic Brazil will be Fortnite-exclusive.
Longoni’s comments make it appear that Aquiris’s future efforts will consist almost exclusively of Fortnite content. Although the studio will continue to support its existing live service games, Longoni says he’s excited to “contribute to the future of Fortnite“so I wouldn’t hold my breath for a horizon chase sequel anytime soon. Still, we can wait, huh?
This is the latest in a series of recent acquisitions by major game publishers and studios. Earlier this week, Sega announced that it had acquired angry Birds developer Rovio to the tune of around $775 million, and of course these deals take place in the shadow of the colossal Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger, which is still gradually making its way through the world’s regulators (albeit with a soundtrack of energetic protests from Sony). Stay tuned for more industry news as we get it.