News

Sega buys Crytek Black Sea and renames it Creative Assembly Sofia

Team of 60 to work with UK developer on slate of unannounced games

Date Type Companies involved Size
March 6th, 2017 acquisition Creative Assembly
Crytek
Not disclosed
Sega buys Crytek Black Sea and renames it Creative Assembly Sofia

Sega has acquired Crytek’s Black Sea studio and rebranded it as Creative Assembly Sofia.

The Bulgaria-based developer has 60 staff and has previously worked on titles such as WorldShift and free-to-play MOBA Arena of Fate.

The studio will now act as a division of Creative Assembly, supporting work on a multitude of unannounced games.

Creatives assemble

Creative Assembly is most known for its Total War strategy game series, some titles of which have made it onto mobile. It has also worked on games such as Alien: Isolation and Halo Wars 2.

The studio currently employs 500 staff in the UK after increasing its headcount by 37% in the past year.

The news comes a few months after Crytek announced it would close or sell off all of its studios outside of Frankfurt as part of a shift back to premium games.

“The acquisition of Crytek Black Sea further enhances Sega Europe’s development capabilities and strengthens our ability to output diverse and engaging content for our IP,” said Sega Europe President and COO Jurgen Post.

“Creative Assembly Sofia will be working exclusively on content for Creative Assembly and will prove an invaluable asset given the multitude of unannounced titles currently in the works.

“This acquisition represents another step in the right direction for the growth of our global business, underlining our commitment to add value to our existing studios and our continued support for the UK games industry.”


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Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.