Ubisoft acquires Blue Mammoth Games

Ubisoft has acquired Brawlhalla developer Blue Mammoth Games, the French publisher's second studio acquisition this week.

Blue Mammoth was founded in 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia, but it opened a second office in Amsterdam at the start of this year. In a statement announcing the deal, Ubisoft said that the company has 21 employees, but Blue Mammoth expected its Dutch office to grow to 25 people eventually.

That ability to grow was principally down to Brawlhalla, the free-to-play hit that Ubisoft described as "the most played fighting game on Steam" and "among the top free-to-play games on PS4." The publisher also noted the game's growth as an esport in its second full season, with a third season having recently started.

"The team at Blue Mammoth Games is expert at developing and running scalable, competitive, multiplayer online games, and they'll be a great addition to Ubisoft's network of studios," said Laurent Detoc, president of Ubisoft NCSA, in a statement.

"With Brawlhalla, we're getting a hugely popular and highly-profitable title that aligns with our strategy of expanding our audience and providing players with long-lasting, entertaining gaming experiences."

The acquisition of Blue Mammoth Games closed on March 1, and is expected to be immediately accretive to Ubisoft's earnings. No other terms were disclosed by either party.

Earlier this week, Ubisoft announced the acquisition of 1492 Studio, the Montpellier-based developer of the episodic mobile title, Is It Love?.