Sumo Digital, the developer that took over the development of Little Big Planet from original creators Media Molicule, has now opened a new studio located in Bangalore, India. This news comes shortly after the studio’s parent company Sumo Group announced it was in the process of being acquired by Chinese Holding Company Tencent for $1.2 billion.
This news also closely follows the announcement that Sumo Group itself would be acquiring another studio, the UK-based studio Auroch Digital for $8.3 million. All of this is solidify the company as a major player for Tencent as it looks to expand outside of China amid newly imposed crackdown laws on the video game industry in the country.
This new studio in Bangalore is intended to deliver specialist development services across a multitude of AAA development projects for consoles. Sumo veteran Stewart Neal has been named the head of this new studio, having previously overseen the 18-month expansion of Sumo Pune.
Neal went on to say:
We are excited to share the next step in our journey with the announcement of Sumo Bangalore and further expansion at Sumo Pune. The continued growth of Sumo Digital’s presence in India is a reflection of the skills and expertise of our team and our reputation as a highly successful co-development studio.
These are not the only moves that Sumo has made recently either. Earlier this year the studio opened up a new studio called Timbre Games in Canada. They also purchased the polish work-for-hire studio PixalAnt Games.
While it is unclear what all the projects the studio is working on might be, Tencent backing them means there could be more expansion for them in the future. It should also be interesting to see what kinds of games the 18 studios and more than 1,200 employees under the Sumo Group will make.
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