THQ Nordic/Koch Media acquires racing-game specialist
MILESTONE the studio behind well-known franchises MotoGP, Supercross, MXGP and
RIDE
Munich / Milan, August 14th – THQ Nordic AB’s indirectly wholly
owned subsidiary Koch Media GmbH, Höfen, has today entered into an agreement to
acquire the Milan based Milestone s.r.l., a leading game developer and
publisher behind successful racing games like MotoGP and Supercross.
The acquisition includes the development
studio and all intellectual property rights.
“Becoming a part of the Koch Media Family
is an important step for our studio. Being run as a family business, which is
built on the enthusiasm of its team members and centered around racing games,
we are delighted to bring our expertise and knowledge into the company group
and strive from the experience and knowledge outside of our core DNA. We are
sure that the combination of our experiences will strengthen our position in
our market segment and help us to bring more exciting games to our fans and
extend the frontiers of racing within the gaming industry,“ says Luisa Bixio, Vice President Milestone
s.r.l.
Dr. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO Koch Media
GmbH adds: “We are delighted to welcome the team from Milestone to the
family. After a long relationship in distribution across selected Koch
territories, I am sure that the combined knowledge of our companies will open
amazing new opportunities within a core market of the games industry. I am more
than confident that the motivation and passion that drives the team at
Milestone and the strong value within the racing segment are a solid foundation
for future projects. The knowledge of fully licensed titles such as MotoGP and
the experience in self-publishing and developing own IPs such as RIDE, rooting
on a core DNA which centers around racing will help us to broaden our group
portfolio and strengthen us for the future.”
Milestone is a software company founded in 1994 under the name Graffiti.
Since 1996, the family owned business with currently around 200 staff is known
as Milestone.
Over the years, Milestone produced legendary racing games
such as Screamer for Virgin, The Superbike series for Electronic
Arts, and WRC for Black Bean to name but a few. 2011/12 Milestone started its
own publishing business for licensed IPs and games with the MotoGP
series. Growing healthy, based on the experience of the teams at Milestone,
2013 marked the entry of the MXGP series. The company launched its first
own franchise Ride in 2015, adding the official Monster Energy
Supercross series in 2018. The current line-up is built around the three
yearly franchises MotoGP, Supercross and MXGP as well as the bi-yearly release
of the owned IP RIDE. Three additional not yet announced IPs, which are due to
launch in 2021, underline the further growth of the company near to its core
DNA-products.
RIDE:
Ride is
Milestone’s most successful own IP and since 2015 the incarnation of the
ultimate motorbike experience in video games. With a strong fan base, the third
iteration was released in 2018, featuring more than 300 fully licensed bikes
and thousands of accessories for customization. RIDE 4 is due to release in
2020, including a fully new neural AI-System and new vehicle classes.
MotoGP:
MotoGP is the
longest lasting game franchise in Milestone history, starting back in 2007.
MotoGP19 was released recently and is critically acclaimed by press and fans
alike. Core to the success of the game is the A.N.N.A. (artificial neural
network agent) which simulates the learning of NPCs and guarantees for a unique
gaming experience with every race. Implementing this new form of AI to a
videogame is a unique and unmatched achievement from Milestone. MotoGP is a
well-known franchise in eSports and gains attention across the world with more
than 15,000 participants per year and major sponsors such as Michelin, BMW and
Red Bull supporting the competitions.
MXGP:
MXGP is the
officially licensed motocross world championship by Youstream. The next chapter
in the franchise history is set to release shortly and will include new
features such as track editor and full customization support for riders and
vehicles.
Supercross:
Monster Energy Supercross, licensed by Feld, is the most
important US motorbike sport. Across the two already released iterations, the
franchise sold over 1 million copies and Supercross 3 is due to be released in
early 2020. It will be the first Milestone game that will also be released on
Google Stadia.
About Koch Media
Koch Media is a leading producer and distributor of digital
entertainment products (games, films and software). The company’s own
publishing activities, marketing and distribution extend throughout Europe,
North America and Australia. The Koch Media group has more than 20 years of
experience in the digital media business, and has risen to become the number
one publishing partner in Europe. It has also formed strategic alliances with
numerous games and software publishers: Bethesda, Capcom, Codemasters, Kaspersky
Labs, Konami, Koei Tecmo, Milestone, Sega, Square Enix, etc. in various
European countries. With Headquarter in Höfen, Austria Koch Media owns branches
in Germany, England, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic
regions, Benelux, Australia, Czech Republic, Poland and the United States.
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