News

NetEase invests up to $30 million into Bossa Studios

Hogwash will be the developer's first title in China

NetEase invests up to $30 million into Bossa Studios

NetEase has invested in London-based indie developer Bossa Studios.

The Chinese tech giant now has a minority stake in the company behind I Am Bread.

The investment from NetEase will aid in bringing Bossa’s titles to the Chinese market - the first being Hogwash.

The farmhand multiplayer game is available on all iOS devices through Apple Arcade - the service launched on September 19th.

According to CNBC - which revealed the story before the official announcement - the money earned through the deal could be as high as $30 million.

A new start

“There's a huge amount of change and disruption around the corner for the games industry at large – from user-generated content and co-creation to subscription platforms and streaming services,” said Bossa Studios co-founder and CEO Henrique Olifiers.

“While we're already recognised as a creative powerhouse within the industry, we are now wholly focused on pairing these ideas with a stronger execution in order to take advantage of the new opportunities ahead of us.”

“In the past few months we've been working extremely hard at weaving a powerful, new start at Bossa, returning to our core strengths in order to build the company's future,” said Olifiers.

“These strengths can be illustrated by creative initiatives such as Bossa Presents, where we’re publicly validating several game ideas with the players to work on games that are already a success before they are even launched.

“To have our plans and their implementation validated through investment by an industry titan such as NetEase is really encouraging. It’s a great way to celebrate the results of an incredibly transformative chapter at the studio.”

NetEase vice president Ethan Wang added: “Bossa Studios has real skill at turning boundless creativity into gaming experiences that will not just engage players, but inspire them as well. Bossa Studios is a valuable addition to our in-house development capabilities.

“We look forward to working with them to create fun and differentiated game experiences for game players worldwide.”


Staff Writer

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