SEGA acquires Creative Assembly

SEGA Europe today announced that in addition to publishing UK-based Creative Assembly's first console game, as reported earlier this week, it has bought the entire company. Reports suggest SEGA paid as little as $30m for the developer.

As such, SEGA will not only be releasing PS2, Xbox and GameCube title Spartan: Total Warrior this September, but will also be supporting CA's development of the industry-leading Total War strategy series and exploring new ideas with the company.

"This news is direct evidence of SEGA delivering its strategic objective of strengthening our emphasis in the western market," SEGA Europe and SEGA of America CEO Naoya Tsurumi commented.

"As our first developer acquisition in the West since we became a publisher it clearly demonstrates that we have set our sights on working with the very best talent in the industry."

SEGA Europe president and COO Mike Hayes said it was a "huge boost" for SEGA. "We are selectively building a portfolio of triple-A titles to fulfil our objective of becoming a worldwide leading force within the gaming industry," he said.

Creative Assembly MD Tim Ansell, meanwhile, said the company was "delighted" to be part of SEGA's plans, calling it "a company which we quickly realised shared our creative vision and were appreciative of our ambition to not only enhance stability but also position ourselves for future growth as a developer".

Founded in 1997, Creative Assembly has offices in the UK and Australia and its Total War titles have quickly risen to prominence in the real-time strategy genre on PC. Previous titles have been published by Activision.