Game development studio Milky Tea Games has announced a new partnership with video gaming group Aonic, who have acquired a majority share in the company.

Aonic model themselves after a loose collective of studios, partnering and knowledge sharing with one another, wjile promising continued independence for those within the group. Milky Tea, who were the developers behind Apple Arcade launch title Hyperbrawl Tournament, have also announced that they are working on multiple as-yet-unnannounced IPs, all of which are set to benefit from the deal.

The previous majority shareholder, Jonathan Holmes will remain onboard as the appointed CEO. He commented, “We have had a great relationship with Aonic’s leadership team for multiple years. After we had decided to take the next strategic step in our development, we sat down with Aonic last April and immediately knew there was great potential in our collaboration. This new partnership is a fantastic opportunity and will allow Milky Tea to continue to go from strength to strength.”

Part and partnership

Milky Tea’s new partnership and the grabbing of a majority stake in the company is good news for both as they have already cut their teeth on designing a major launch title. The development of multiple new IPs is sure to offer a goal for their partnership to work towards and a great way to stress-test what Aonic’s model of a studio partnership can achieve with Milky Tea.

More than that however, it points to renewed interest in the gaming industry outside of the traditional heartland of London and into the north of England and the UK. Milky Tea is the second high profile Northern studio to be acquired in recent months after Behaviour Interactive acquired Sock Monkey Studios and hopefully more good news for talented game developers outside the capital and the local economies which suppport them will be on the way.